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FIFINE  AT  THE    FAIR 

RED  COTTON   NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY 
AND  THE  INN  ALBUM 


ROBERT   BROWNING 


BOSTON 

HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND    COMPANY 

New   York:    11    East   Seventeenth    Street 

(€!)c  Rilicrsibc  press,  Camliritige 
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PKINTED     AT     THE     KIVEKSIDE     PRESS. 


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CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

FiFIXE   AT   THE    FaIR             ......  I 

Prince  Hohexstiel-Schwaxgau        .        .        .  163 

Herve  Riel 271 

Red  Cotton  Night-Cap  Country     .        .        .  2S5 

The  Inn  Album        .        , 501 


iyil01122 


FIFINE    AT    THE    FAIR. 


Done  Elvire. 
Vous  plait-il,  don  Juan,  nous  eclaircir  ces  beaux  mysteres  ? 

Don  Juan. 
Madame,  a  vous  dire  la  ve'rite  .  .  , 

Done  Elvire. 
Ah  !  que  vous  savez  mal  vous  de'tendre  pour  un  homme  de  cour, 
et  qui  doit  etre  accoutume'  a,  ces  sortes  de  choses  !  J"ai  pitie'  de 
vous  voir  la  confusion  que  vous  avez.  Que  ne  vous  armez-vous  le 
front  d"une  noble  effronterie .''  Que  ne  me  jurez-vous  que  vous 
etes  toujours  dans  les  memes  sentimens  pour  moi,  que  vous  m'aimez 
toujours  avec  une  ardeur  sans  e'gale,  et  que  rien  n'est  capable  de 
vous  de'tacher  de  moi  que  la  mort  ?  —  Molieir,  Don  Juan,  Act  lier. 
Scene  ^e. 


Do.xxA  Elvira. 
Don  Juan,  might  you  please  to  help  one  give  a  guess, 
Hold  up  a  candle,  clear  this  fine  mysteriousness  ? 

Don  Juan. 
Madam,  if  needs  I  must  declare  the  truth,  —  in  short .  .  . 

Donna  Elvira. 
Fie  !  for  a  man  of  mode,  accustomed  at  the  court 
To  such  a  style  of  thing,  how  awkwardly  my  lord 
Attempts  defence  !     You  move  compassion,  —  that's  the  word,  — 
Dumfoundered  and  chapfallen  !     Why  don't  you  arm  your  brow 
With  noble  impudence  ?     Why  don't  you  swear  and  vow 
No  sort  of  change  is  come  to  any  sentiment 
You  ever  had  for  me  ?     Affection  holds  the  bent ; 
You  love  me  now  as  erst,  with  passion  that  makes  pale 
All  ardor  else  :  nor  aught  in  nature  can  avail 
To  separate  us  two,  save  what,  in  stopping  breath. 
May,  peradventure,  stop  devotion  likewise,  —  death  ! 


k 


PROLOGUE, 


Amphibian. 


The  fancy  I  had  to-day,  — 
Fancy  which  turned  a  fear  ! 

I  swam  far  out  in  the  bav, 
Since  waves  laughed  warm  and  clear. 


I  lay  and  looked  at  the  sun  ; 

The  noon-sun  looked  at  me  : 
Between  us  two,  no  one 

Live  creature,  that  I  could  see. 


PROLOGUE. 


Yes  !  —  there  came  floating  by 
Me,  who  lay  floating  too, 

Such  a  strange  butterfly  !  — 
Creature  as  dear  as  new  ; 

IV. 

Because  the  membraned  wings» 

So  wonderful,  so  wide. 
So  sun-suffused,  were  things 

Like  soul,  and  nought  beside. 

V. 

A  handbreadth  overhead ! 

All  of  the  sea  my  own, 
It  owned  the  sky  instead  : 

Both  of  us  were  alone. 

VI. 

I  never  shall  join  its  flight ; 

For  nought  buoys  flesh  in  air. 
If  it  touch  the  sea,  good-night  ! 

Death  sure  and  swift  waits  there. 


PROLOGUE. 

VII. 

Can  the  insect  feel  the  better 
For  watching  the  uncouth  play 

Of  limbs  that  slip  the  fetter, 
Pretend  as  they  were  not  clay  ? 

VIII. 

Undoubtedly  I  rejoice 

That  the  air  comports  so  well 
With  a  creature  which  had  the  choice 

Of  the  land  once.     Who  can  tell  ? 

IX. 

What  if  a  certain  soul 

Which  early  slipped  its  sheath. 
And  has  for  its  home  the  whole 

Of  heaven,  thus  look  beneath  ; 

X. 

Thus  watch  one,  who,  in  the  world 
Both  lives,  and  likes  life's  way. 

Nor  wishes  the  wings  unfurled 
That  sleep  in  the  worm,  they  say  ? 


PROLOGUE. 

XI. 

But  sometimes,  when  the  weather 
Is  blue,  and  warm  waves  tempt 

To  free  one's  self  of  tether, 
And  try  a  life  exempt 


From  worldly  noise  and  dust, 
In  the  sphere  which  overbrims 

With  passion  and  thought,  —  why,  just 
Unable  to  fly,  one  swims  ! 

XIII. 
By  passion  and  thought  upborne, 

One  smiles  to  one's  self,  "  They  fare 
Scarce  better,  they  need  not  scorn 

Our  sea,  who  live  in  the  air." 

XIV. 

Emancipate  through  passion 
And  thought,  with  sea  for  sky, 

We  substitute,  in  a  fashion, 
For  heaven,  poetry  .- 


PROLOGUE. 

XV. 

Which  sea,  to  all  intent, 
Gives  flesh  such  noon-disport 

As  a  nner  element 

Affords  the  spirit-sort. 

XVI. 
Whatever  they  are,  we  seem  ; 

Imagine  the  thing  they  know  ; 
All  deeds  they  do,  we  dream  : 

Can  heaven  be  else  but  so  .-' 

XVII. 

And,  meantime,  yonder  streak 
Meets  the  horizon's  verge  : 

That  is  the  land  to  seek. 

If  we  tire,  or  dread  the  surge,  — 

XVIII. 
Land  the  solid  and  safe. 

To  welcome  again  (confess  !) 
When,  high  and  dry,  we  chafe 

The  body,  and  don  the  dress. 


PROLOGUE. 

XIX. 

Does  she  look,  pity,  wonder, 
At  one  who  mimics  flight. 

Swims,  —  heaven  above,  sea  under. 
Yet  always  earth  in  sight  ? 


V       FIFINE   AT   THE    FAIR. 


Oh,  trip  and  skip,  Elvire  !     Link  arm  in  arm  with  me  ; 
Like  husband  and  Hke  wife,  together  let  us  see 
The  tumbling-troop  arrayed,  the  strollers  on  their  stage 
Drawn  up  and  under  arms,  and  ready  to  engage. 


Now,  who  supposed  the  night  would  play  us  such  a 

prank  ?  — 
That  what  was  raw  and  brown,  rough  pole  and  shaven 

plank, 
Mere  bit  of  hoarding,  half  by  trestle  propped,  half  tub, 
Would  flaunt  it  forth  as  brisk  as  butterfly  from  "-rub  ? 


/\'  "iwt 

X,      ■    ^ 


^^/Uuwa  0. !-« 


8  FIFINE   AT   THE   tAIR. 

This  comes  of  sun  and  air,  of  autumn  afternoon, 

And   Pornic   and   Saint  Gille,   whose    feast    affords    the 

boon, — 
This  scaffold  turned  parterre,  this  flower-bed  in  full  blow, 
Bateleurs,  baladines  !     We  shall  not  miss  the  show  ! 
They  pace  and  promenade ;  they  presendy  will  dance  : 
What  good  were  else  i'  the  drum  and   fife  ?     O  pleasant 

land  of  France  ! 

III. 

Who  saw  them  make  their  entry?     At  wink  of  eve, 
be  sure, 
They  love  to  steal  a  march,  nor  lightly  risk  the  lure. 
They  keep  their  treasure  hid,  nor  stale  (improvident) 
Before  the  time  is  ripe,  each  wonder  of  their  tent,  — 
Yon  six-legged  sheep,  to  wit,  and  he  who  beats  a  gong, 
Lifts  cap,  and  waves  salute,  exhilarates  the  throng,  — 
Their  ape  of  many  years  and  much  adventure,  grim 
And  gray  with  pitying  fools  who  find  a  joke  in  him. 
Or,  best,  the  human  beauty,  Mim^,  Toinette,  Fifine, 
Tricot  fines  down  if  fat,  padding  plumps  up  if  lean. 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  9 

Ere,  shedding  petticoat,  modesty,  and  such  toys, 
They  bounce  forth,  squalid  girls  transformed  to  game- 
some boys. 

IV. 

No,   no,  thrice,  Pornic,  no!     Perpend  the  authentic 

tale! 
'Twas  not  for  every  Gawain  to  gaze  upon  the  Grail  ! 
But  whoso  went  his  rounds  when  flew  bat,  flitted  midge, 
Might  hear  across  the  dusk  —  w-here  both  roads    join 

the  bridge, 
Hard  by  the  little  port  —  creak  a  slow  caravan, 
A  chimneyed  house  on  wheels  ;  so  shyly-sheathed,  began 
To  broaden  out  the  bud,  which,  bursting  unaware, 
Now  takes  away  our  breath,  queen-tulip  of  the  Fair  ! 

V. 

Yet  morning  promised  much  ;  for,  pitched   and  slung 
and  reared 
On  terrace  'neath  the  tower,  'twixt  tree  and  tree  appeared 
An  air}'  structure  :  how  the  pennon  from  its  dome. 
Frenetic  to  be  free,  makes  one  red  stretch  for  home!  — 


lO  FIFINE  AT   THE   FAIR. 

The  home  far  and  away,  the  distance  where  lives  joy, 
The  cure,  at  once  and  ever,  of  world  and  worlds  annoy  ; 
Since  what  lolls  full  in  front,  a  furlong  from  the  booth, 
But  ocean-idleness,  sky-blue,  and  millpond-smooth  ? 

VI. 

Frenetic  to  be  free  !     And  do  you  know  there  beats 
Something  within  my  breast  as  sensitive  ?  —  repeats 
The  fever  of  the  flag  ?     My  heart  makes  just  the  same 
Passionate  stretch,  fires  up  for  lawlessness,  lays  claim 
To  share  the  life  they  lead,  —  losels,  who  have  and  use 
The  hour  what  way  they  will,  —  applaud  them,  or  abuse 
Society,  whereof  myself  am  at  the  beck. 
Whose  call  obey,  and  stoop  to  burden  stiffest  neck ! 

VII. 

Why  is  it,  that  whene'er  a  faithful  few  combine 
To  cast  allegiance  off,  play  truant,  nor  repine, 
Agree  to  bear  the  worst,  forego  the  best  in  store 
For  us,  who,  left  behind,  do  duty  as  of  yore,  — 
Why  is  it,  that,  disgraced,  they  seem  to  relish  life  the 
more  ?  — 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  II 

Seem  as  they  said,  "  We  know  a  secret  passing  praise 
Or  blame  of  such  as  you  !     Remain  !  we  go  our  ways 
With  something  you  o'erlooked,  forgot,  or  chose  to  sweep 
Clean  out  of  door,  —  our  pearl  picked  from  your  rub- 
bish-heap. 
You  care  not  for  your  loss  :  we  calculate  our  gain. 
All's   right.     Are   you   content?      Why,    so    let   things 

remain  ! 
To  the  wood  then,  to  the  wild  :  free  life,  full  liberty  !  " 
And  when  they  rendezvous  beneath  the  inclement  sky, 
House  by  the  hedge,  reduced  to  brute-companionship,  — 
Misguided  ones  who  gave  society  the  slip. 
And  find  too  late  how  boon  a  parent  they  despised, 
What  ministration  spurned,  how  sweet  and  civilized, — 
Then,  left  alone  at  last  with  self-sought  wretchedness, 
No  interloper  else  !  why  is  it  —  can  we  guess?  — 
At  somebody's  expense  goes  up  so  frank  a  laugh  ? 
As  though  they  held  the  corn,  and  left  us  only  chaff 
From  garners  crammed  and  closed ;  and  we  indeed  are 

clever 
If  we  get  grain  as  good  by  thrashing  straw  forever. 


12  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

VIII. 
Still,  truants  as  they  are,  and  purpose  yet  to  be. 
That  nowise  needs  forbid  they  venture  —  as  you  see  — 
To  cross  confine,  approach  the  once  familiar  roof 
O'  the  kindly  race    their  flight    estranged :    half  stand 

aloof. 
Half  sidle  up,  press  near,  and  proffer  wares  for  sale. 
In   their  phrase  ;    make,  in  ours,  white  levy  of  black 

mail. 
They,  of  the  wild,  require  some  touch  of  us  the  tame ; 
Since  clothing,  meat,  and   drink   mean    money  all   the 

same. 

IX. 

If  hunger,  proverbs  say,  allures  the  wolf  from  wood. 
Much  more  the  bird  must  dare  a  dash  at  something  good  ; 
Must  snatch  up,  bear  away  in  beak,  the  trifle-treasure 
To  wood  and  wild,  and  then  —  oh,  how  enjoy  at  leisure  ! 
Was  never  tree-built  nest,  you  climbed  and  took,  of  bird, 
(Rare  city-visitant,  talked  of,  scarce  seen  or  heard,) 
But,  when  you  would  dissect  the  structure  piece  by  piece, 
^ou   found  inwreathed   amid  the   country-product  — 
fleece 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  1 3 

And  feather,  thistle-fluffs  and  bearded  windlestraws  — 
Some  shred  of  foreisfn  silk,  unravellino:  of  gcauze. 
Bit,  maybe,  of  brocade,  'mid  fur  and  thistle-down  ; 
Filched  plainly  from  mankind,  dear  tribute  paid  by  town, 
Which  proved  how  oft  the  bird  had  plucked  up  heart  of 

grace, 
Swooped  down  at  waif  and  stray,  made  furtively  our  place 
Pay  tax  and  toll,  then  borne  the  booty  to  enrich 
Her  paradise  i'  the  waste  ;  the  how  and  why  of  which, 
That  is  the  secret,  there  the  mystery  that  stings. 

X. 

For  what  they  traffic  in  consists  of  just  the  things 
We  proud  ones  who  so  scorn  dwellers  without  the  pale, 
Bateleurs,  baladines,  white  leviers  of  black  mail,  — 
I  say,  they  sell  what  we  most  pique  us  that  we  keep  : 
How  comes  it,  all  we  hold  so  dear  they  count  so  cheap  ? 

XI. 

What  price  should  you  impose,  for  instance,  on  repute, 
Good  fame,  your  own  good  fame  and  family's  to  boot  ? 


14  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Stay  start  of  quick  mustache,  arrest  the  angry  rise 
Of  eyebrow  !     All  I  asked  is  answered  by  surprise. 
Now  tell  me  :  are  you  worth  the  cost  of  a  cigar  ? 
Go  boldly,  enter  booth,  disburse  the  coin  at  bar 
Of  doorway  where  presides  the  master  of  the  troop, 
And  forthwith  you  sur\^ey  his  Graces  in  a  group,  — 
Live  picture,  picturesque  no  doubt,  and  close  to  life : 
His  sisters,  right  and  left ;  the  Grace  in  front,  his  wife. 
Next,  who  is  this  performs  the  feat  of  the  trapeze  ? 
Lo,  she  is  launched :  look,  fie,  the  fairy  !  —  how  she  flees 
O'er  all  those  heads  thrust  back  !  —  mouths,  eyes,  one 

gape  and  stare. 
No  scrap  of  skirt  impedes  free  passage  through  the  air, 
Till,  plumb  on  the  other  side,  she  lights,  and  laughs 

again,  — 
That  fair3--form,  whereof  each  muscle,  nay,  each  vein. 
The  curious  may  inspect,  —  his  daughter  that  he  sells 
Each  rustic  for  five  sous.     Desiderate  aught  else 
O'  the  vender  ?     As  you  leave  his  show,  —  why,  joke  the 

man  :  — 
''  You  cheat :  your  six-legged  sheep,  I  recollect,  began 


FIFINE  AT   THE  FAIR.  15 

Both  life  and  trade,   last  year,   trimined    properly  and 

dipt 
As  the  Twin-headed  Babe  and  Human  Nondescript." 
What  does  he  care?     You  paid  his  price,  may  pass  your 

jest. 
So  values  he  repute,  good  fame,  and  all  the  rest. 

XII. 

But  \.T)r  another  tack  :  say,  "  I  indulge  caprice. 
Who    am    Don   and   Duke,  and    Knight,  beside,  o'  the 

Golden  Fleece, 
And  never  mind  how  rich.     Abandon  this  career ; 
Have  hearth  and  home  ;  nor  let  your  womankind  appear 
Without  as  multiplied  a  coating  as  protects 
An  onion  from  the  eye  ;  become,  in  all  respects, 
God-fearing  householder,  subsistent  by  brain-skill. 
Hand-labor;  win  your  bread  whatever  way  you  will, 
So  it  be  honestly,  —  and,  while  I  have  a  purse, 
Means  shall  not  lack  : "  his  thanks  will  be  the  roundest 

curse 
That  ever  rolled  from  lip. 


l6  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

X£II. 

Now,  what  is  it — returns 
The  question  —  heartens  so  this  losel,  that  he  spurns 
All  we  so  prize  ?     I  want  put  down  in  black  and  white 
What  compensating  joy,  unknown  and  infinite, 
Turns  lawlessness  to  law,  makes  destitution  wealth, 
Vice  virtue,  and  disease  of  soul  and  body  health. 

XIV. 

Ah  the  slow  shake  of  head,  the  melancholy  smile, 
The  sigh  almost  a  sob  !     What's  wrong,  was  right  ere 

while  ? 
Why  are  we  two  at  once  such  ocean-width  apart  ? 
Pale  fingers  press  my  arm,  and  sad  eyes  probe  my  heart. 
Why  is  the  wife  in  trouble  ? 

XV. 

This  way,  this  way,  Fifine  ! 
Here's  she  shall  make  my  thoughts  be  surer  what  they 

mean  ! 
First  let  me  read  the  signs,  portray  you  past  mistake 
The  gypsy's  foreign  self,  no  swarth  our  sun  could  bake. 


FIFINE  AT   THE  FAIR.  17 

Yet  Where's  a  woolly  trace,  degrades  the  wiry  hair  ? 
And  note  the  Greek-nymph  nose,  and  —  oh,  my  Hebrew 

pair 
Of  eye  and  eye,  —  o'erarched  by  velvet  of  the  mole,  — 
That  swim  as  in  a  sea,  that  dip  and  rise  and  roll, 
Spilling  the  light  around !  while  either  ear  is  cut 
Thin  as  a  dusk-leaved  rose  car\-ed  from  a  cocoa-nut. 
And  then  her  neck !  —  now,  grant  you  had  the  power  to 

deck. 
Just  as  your  fancy  pleased,  the  bistre-length  of  neck  ; 
Could  lay,  to  shine  against  its  shade,  a  moon-like  row 
Of  pearl,  each  round  and  white  as  bubble  Cupids  blow 
Big  out  of  mother's  milk  :  what  pearl-moon  would  surpass 
That  string  of  mock-turquoise,  those  almandines  of  glass, 
Where  girlhood  terminates  ?  for  with  breasts'-birth  com- 
mence 
The  boy,  and  page-costume,  till  pink  and  impudence 
End  admirably  all :  complete,  the  creature  trips 
Our  way  now,  brings  sunshine  upon  her  spangled  hips. 
As  here  she  fronts  us  full,  with  pose  half  frank,  hali 
fierce  ! 


l8  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

XVI. 
Words  urged  in  vain,  Elvire !     You  waste  your  carte 
and  tierce, 
Lunge  at  a  phantom  here,  try  fence  in  fairy-land. 
For  me,  I  own  defeat ;  ask  but  to  understand 
The  acknowledged  victoi'y  of  whom  I  call  my  queen, 
Sexless  and  bloodless  sprite  :  though  mischievous  and 
I  mean, 

;     Yet  free  and  flower-like  too,  with  loveliness  for  law, 
\     And  self-sustainment  made  morality. 

XVII. 

A  flaw 
Do   you   account   i'  the  lily,  of  lands  which   travellers 

know, 
That,  just  as  a  golden  gloom  supersedes  northern  snow 
I'  the  chalice,  so,  about  each  pistil,  spice  is  packed. 
Deliriously-drugged  scent,  in  lieu  of  odor  lacked, 
With  us,  by  bee  and  moth,  their  banquet  to  enhance 
At  morn  and  eve,  when  dew,  the  chilly  sustenance. 
Needs  mixture  of  some  chaste  and  temperate  perfume  ? 
I    I  ask,  is  she  in  fault  who  guards  such  golden  gloom, 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  19 

Such  dear  and    damning    scent,   by   who   cares   what 

devices, 
And  takes  the  idle  life  of  insects  she  entices, 
When,  drowned  to  heart's  desire,  they  satiate  the  inside 
J  O'  the  lily,  mark  her  wealth,  and  manifest  her  pride  ? 

XVIII. 

But,  wiser,  we  keep  off,  nor  tempt  the  acrid  juice  ; 
Discreet  we  peer  and  praise,  put  rich  things  to  right 

use. 
No  flavorous  venomed  bell,  —  the  rose  it  is,  I  wot. 
Only  the  rose,  we  pluck  and  place,  un\\Tonged  a  jot. 
No  worse  for  homage  done  by  everj''  devotee, 
I'  the  proper  loyal  throne,  on  breast  where  rose  should 

be. 
Or  if  the  simpler  sweets  we  have  to  choose  among 
Would  taste    between  our  teeth,  and   give  its  toy  the 

tongue,  — 

0  gorgeous  poison-plague  !  on  thee  no  hearts  are  set ; 
We  gather  daisy  meek,  or  maiden  violet : 

1  think  it  is  Elvire  we  love,  and  not  Fifine.  • 


20  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

XIX. 
"  How  does  she  make  my  thoughts  be  sure  of  what 
they  mean  ? " 
Judge,  and  be  just !    Suppose  an  age  and  time  long  past 
Renew  for  our  behoof  one  pageant  more,  the  last 
O'  the  kind,  sick  Louis  liked  to  see  defile  between 
Him  and  the  yawning  grave  its  passage  ser\-ed  to  screen. 
With  eye  as  gray  as  lead,  with  cheek  as  brown  as  bronze. 
Here  where  we  stand,  shall  sit  and  suffer  Louis  Onze  ; 
The  while  from  yonder  tent  parade  forth,  not  —  oh,  no  I  — 
Bateleurs,  baladines,  but  range  themselves  a-row 
Those  well-sung  women-worthies  whereof  loud  fame  still 

finds 
Some  echo  linger  faint,  less  in  our  hearts  than  minds. 

XX. 

See,  Helen !  pushed  in  front  o'  the  world's  worst  night 
and  storm 
By  Lady  Venus'  hand  on  shoulder ;  the  sweet  form 
Shrinkingly  prominent,  though  mighty,  like  a  moon 
Outbreaking  from  a  cloud,  to  put  harsh  things  in  tune, 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  21 

And  magically  bring  mankind  to  acquiesce 
In  its  own  ravage,  —  call  no  curse  upon,  but  bless 
(Beldam  a  moment  since)  the  outbreaking  beauty,  now, 
That  casts  o'er  all  the  blood  a  candor  from  her  brow. 
See,  Cleopatra  !  bared,  the  entire  and  sinuous  wealth 
O'  the  shining  shape  ;  each  orb  of  indolent  ripe  health, 
Captured^  just  where  it  finds  a  fellow-orb  as  fine 
I'  the  body ;  traced  about  by  jewels  which  outline, 
Fire-frame,  and  keep  distinct,  perfections,  lest  they  melt 
To  soft  smooth  unity  ere  half  their  hold  be  felt : 
Yet,  o'er  that  white  and  wonder,  a  soul's  predominance 
I'  the  head    so  high  and   haught,  except  one  thievish 

glance. 
From  back  of  oblong  eye,  intent  to  count  the  slain. 
Hush,  oh  !  I  know,  Elvire  !    Be  patient ;  more  remain. 
What   say   you    to    Saint  —  pish !    whatever   saint    you 

please, 
Cold-pinnacled  aloft  o'  the  spire,  prays  calm  the  seas 
From  Pornic  church,  and  oft  at  midnight  (peasants  say) 
Goes  walking   out   to   save  from  shipwreck :   well   she 

may; 


2  2  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

For  think  how  many  a  year  has  she  been  conversant 
With  nought  but  winds  and  rains,  sharp  courtesy,  and 

scant 
O'  the  wintry  snow  that  coats   the  pent-house  of  *her 

shrine, 
Covers  each  knee,  climbs  near,  but  spares   the  smile 

benign 
Which  seems  to  say,  "  I  looked  for  scarce  so  much  from 

earth." 
She  follows,  one  long,  thin  pure  finger  in  the  girth 
O'  the  girdle,  whence  the  folds  of  garment,  eye  and  eye, 
Besprent  with  fleur-de-lis,  flow  down  and  multiply 
Around  her  feet ;  and  one  pressed  hushingly  to  lip, 
As  if,  while  thus  we  made  her  march,  some  foundering 

ship 
Might  miss  her  from  her  post,  nearer  to  God  half-way 
In  heaven  ;  and  she  thought,  "  Who  that  treads  earth  can 

pray? 
I  doubt  if  even  she,  the  unashamed  !  though,  sure, 
She   must    have    stripped    herself  only   to    clothe    the 

poor." 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  23 

XXI. 
This  time,  enough's  a  feast,  not  one  more  form,  Elvire  ! 
Provided  you  allow,  that,  bringing  up  the  rear 
O'  the  bevy  I  am  loath  to  —  by  one  bird  —  curtail. 
First  note  may  lead  to  last,  an  octave  crown  the  scale, 
And  this  feminity  be  followed  —  do  not  flout  !  — 
By  —  who  concludes  the  mask  with  courtesy,  smile,  and 

pout, 
Submissive-mutinous  ?     No  other  than  Fifine 
Points  toe,  imposes  haunch,  and  pleads  with  tambourine. 

XXII. 

"  Well,  what's  the  meaning  here,  what  does  the  mask 
intend, 
Which,  unabridged,  we  saw  file  past  us,  with  no  end 
Of  fair  ones,  till  Fifine  came,  closed  the  catalogue  ?  " 

XXIII. 

Task  fancy  yet  again.     Suppose  you  cast  this  clog 
Of  flesh  away  (that  weeps,  upbraids,  withstands  my  arm), 
And  pass  to  join  your  peers;  paragon  charm  with  charm, 


24  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

As  I  shall  show  you  may  ;  prove  best  of  beauty  there  ; 
Yourself  confront  yourself.     This  help  me  to  declare, 
That  yonder-you,  who  stand  beside  these,  braving  each, 
And   blinking   none,  beat  her  who   lured  to  Troy-town 

beach 
The  purple  prows  of  Greece  ;  nay,   beat  Fifine,  whose 

face 
Mark  how  I  will  inflame,  when  seigneur-like  I  place 
I'   the   tambourine,   to    spot   the    strained  and  piteous 

blank 
Of  pleading  parchment,  see,  no  less  than  a  whole  franc  ! 

XXIV. 

Ah  !  do  you  mark  the  brown  o'  the  cloud,  made  bright 

with  fire 
Through   and   through?    as,    old   wiles    succeeding    to 

desire. 
Quality  (you  and  I)  once  more  compassionate 
A  hapless  infant,  doomed  (fie  on  such  partial  fate  !) 
To  sink  the  inborn  shame,  waive  privilege  of  sex, 
And  posture  as  you  see,  support  the  nods  and  becks 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  2$ 

Of  clowns  that  have  their  stare,  nor  always   pay    its 

price  ; 
An  infant  born,  perchance,  as  sensitive  and  nice 
As  any  soul  of  you,  proud  dames,  whom  destiny 
Keeps  uncontaminate  from  stigma  of  the  sty 
She  wallows  in  !     You  draw  back  skirts  from   filth  like 

her. 
Who  possibly  braves  scorn,  if,  scorned,  she  minister 
To  age,  want,  and  disease  of  parents  one  or  both  ; 
Nay,  peradventure,  stoops  to  degradation,  loath 
That  some  just  budding  sister,  the  dew  yet  on  the  rose. 
Should  have  to  share  in  turn  the  ignoble  trade  :    who 

knows  ? 

XXV. 

Ay,    who   indeed !     Myself  know   nothing,    but   dare 
guess 
That  off  she  trips  in  haste  to  hand  the  booty  —  yes, 
Twixt  fold  and  fold  of  tent   there  looms  he,  dim  dis- 
cerned, 
The  ogre,  lord  of  all  —  those  lavish  limbs  have  earned  ! 


26  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Brute-beast- face  —  ravage,     scar,    scowl,    and     malig- 
nancy — 
O'  the   Strong  Man,  whom  (no  doubt,  her  husband)  by 

and  by 
You  shall  behold  do  feats,  —  lift  up,  nor  quail  beneath, 
A  quintal  in  each  hand,  a  cart-wheel  'twixt  his  teeth. 
Oh  !  she  prefers  sheer  strength  to  ineffective  grace, 
Breeding,  and  culture  ;  seeks  the  essential  in  the  case. 
To  him  has  flown  my  franc  ;  and  welcome,  if  that  squint 
O'  the  diabolic  eye  so  soften,  through  absinthe. 
That,  for  once,  tambourine,  tunic,  and  tricot  'scape 
Their  customary  curse,  "  Not  half  the  gain  of  the  ape  ! ' 
Ay,  they  go  in  together. 

XXVI. 

Yet  still  her  phantom  stays 
Opposite,  where  you  stand  as  steady  'neath  our  gaze,  — 
The   live  Elvire's   and   mine,  —  though  fancy-stuff  and 

mere 
Illusion,  to  be  judged,  —  dream-figures,  —  without  fear 
Or  favor,  those  the  false,  by  you  and  me  the  true. 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  2 J 

xxvir. 
"What  puts  it  in   my  head  to  make  yourself  judge 
you  ? " 
Well,  it  may  be  the  name  of  Helen  brought  to  mind 
A  certain  myth  I  mused  in  years  long  left  behind  : 
How  she  that  fled  from  Greece  with  Paris,  whom  she 

loved, 
And  came  to  Troy,  and  there   found   shelter,  and    so 

proved 
Such  cause  of  the  world's  woe,  —  how  she,  old  stories  call 
This  creature,  Helen's  self,  never  saw  Troy  at  all. 
Jove  had  his  fancy-fit ;  must  needs  take  empty  air. 
Fashion  her  likeness  forth,  and  set  the  phantom  there 
I'  the  midst  for  sport,  to  try  conclusions  with  the  blind 
And  blundering  race,  the  game  create  for  gods,  man- 
kind : 
Experiment  on  these ;  establish  who  would  yearn 
To  give  up  life  for  her,  who,  other-minded,  spurn 
The  best  her  eyes  could  smile  ;   make  half  the  world 

sublime. 
And  half  absurd,  for  just  a  phantom  all  the  time  ; 


28  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Meanwhile  true  Helen's  self  sat,  safe  and  far  away, 

By  a  great  river-side,  beneath  a  purer  day, 

With  solitude  around,  tranquillity  within  ; 

Was  able  to  lean  forth,  look,  listen,  through  the  din 

And  stir  ;  could  estimate  the  worthlessness  or  worth 

Of  Helen,  who  inspired  such  passion  to  the  earth, 

A  phantom  all  the  time !     That  put  it  in  my  head 

To  make  yourself  judge  you,  —  the  phantom-wife,  instead 

O'  the  tearful,  true  Elvire. 

XXVIII. 

I  thank  the  smile  at  last 
Which  thins  away  the  tear.     Our  sky  was  overcast. 
And  something  fell ;  but  day  clears  up  :  if  there  chanced 

rain. 
The  landscape  glistens  more.     I  have  not  vexed  in  vain 
Elvire ;  because  she  knows,  now  she  has  stood  the  test. 
How,  this   and   this  being   good,   herself  may    still    be 

best 
O'  the  beauty  in  review ;  because  the  flesh  that  claimed 
Unduly  my  regard,  she  thought,  the  taste  she  blamed 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  29 

In  me  for  things  externe,  was  all  mistake,  she  finds, 
Or  will  find  when  I  prove  that  bodies  show  me  minds  ; 
That,  through  the  outward  sign,  the  inward  grace  allures, 
And  sparks  from   heaven  transpierce   earth's   coarsest 

covertures,  — 
All  by  demonstrating  the  value  of  Fifine  ! 


"  /  XXIX. 

Partake  my  confidence.    No  creature's  made  so  mean, 
But  that,  some  way,  it  boasts,  could  we  investigate. 
Its  supreme  worth  ;  fulfils,  by  ordinance  of  fate. 
Its  momentary  task  ;  gets  glory  all  its  own  ; 
Tastes  triumph  in  the  world,  pre-eminent,  alone. 
Where  is  the  single  grain  of  sand,  'mid  millions  heaped 
Confusedly  on  the  beach,  but,  did  we  know,  has  leaped. 
Or  will  leap  would  we  wait,  i'  the  century,  some  once. 
To  the  ver}'  throne  of  things  ?  —  earth's  brightest  for  the 

nonce. 
When  sunshine  shall  impinge  on  just  that  grain's  facette 
Which  fronts  him  fullest,  first,  returns  his  ray  with  jet 


30  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Of  promptest   praise,  thanks   God   best    in    creation's 

name. 
As  firm  is  my  belief,  quick  sense  perceives  the  same 
Self-vindicating  flash  illustrate  every  man 
And  woman  of   our  mass,  and  prove,  throughout  the 

plan, 
No  detail,  but,  in  place  allotted  it,  was  prime 
And  perfect. 

XXX. 

Witness  her,  kept  waiting  all  this  time  ! 
What  happy  angle  makes  Fifine  reverberate 
Sunshine,  —  least   sand-grain,    she,   of    shadiest    social 

state  ? 
No  adamantine  shield,  polished  like  Helen  there. 
Fit  to  absorb  the  sun,  regorge  him  till  the  glare, 
Dazing  the  universe,  draw  Troy-ward  those  blind  beaks 
Of  equal-sided  ships  rowed  by  the  well-greaved  Greeks. 
No  Asian  mirror  like  yon  Ptolematic  witch 
Able  to  fix  sun  fast,  and  tame  sun  down,  enrich. 
Not  burn,  the  world  with  beams  thus  flatteringly  rolled 
About  her,  head  to  foot,  turned  slavish  snakes  of  gold ! 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  3» 

And,  oh !  no  tinted  pane  of  oriel  sanctity 

Does  our  Fifine  afford,  such  as  permits  supply 

Of  lustrous  heaven,  revealed,  far  more  than  mundane  sight 

Could  master,  to  thy  cell,  pure  saint !  where,   else  too 

bright. 
So  suits  thy  sense  the  orb,  that  what  outside  was  noon 
Pales  through  thy  lozenged  blue  to  meek  benefic  moon  ! 
What  then  ?  —  does  that  prevent  each  dunghill  we  may 

pass 
Daily  from  boasting,  too,  its  bit  of  looking-glass, 
Its   sherd,  which,  sun-smit,    shines,  shoots   arrowy  fire 

beyond 
That  satin-muffled  mope,  your  sulky  diamond  ? 

XXXI. 

And,  now,  the  mingled  ray  she  shoots  I  decompose. 
Her  antecedents  take  for  execrable  !     Gloze 
No  whit  on  your  premise  :  let  be  there  was  no  worst 
Of  degradation  spared  Fifine,  ordained  from  first 
To  last,  in  body  and  soul,  for  one  life-long  debauch,  — 
The  Pariah  of  the  North,  the  European  Nautch  ! 


^2  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

This,  far  from  seek  to  hide,  she  puts  in  evidence 
Calmly,  displays  the  brand,  bids  pry  without  offence 
Your  finger  on  the  place.     You  comment,  "  Fancy  us 
So  operated  on,  maltreated,  mangled  thus  ! 
Such  torture  in  our  case,  had  we  survived  an  hour  ? 
Some  other  sort  of  flesh  and  blood  must  be,  with  power 
Appropriate  to  the  vile,  unsensitive,  tough-thonged, 
In  lieu  of  our  fine  nerve !     Be  sure  she  was  not  wronged 
Too  much  :  you  must  not  think  she  winced  at  prick  as 

we  ! " 
Come,   come,   that's   what    you    say;    or   would,   were 

thoughts  but  free. 

XXXII. 

Well  then,  thus  much  confessed,  what  wonder  if  there 
steal 
Unchallenged  to  my  heart  the  force  of  one  appeal 
She  makes,  and  justice  stamp  the  sole  claim  she  asserts  ? 
So  absolutely  good  is  truth,  truth  never  hurts 
The    teller,    whose    worst   crime    gets    somehow   grace 

avowed. 
To  me,  that  silent  pose  and  prayer  proclaimed  aloud, 


FIFIXE  AT  THE  FAIR.  33 

"  Know  all  of  me  outside  :  the  rest  be  emptiness 

For  such  as  you  !     I  call  attention  to  my  dress, 

Coiffure,  outlandish  features,  and  memorable  limbs, 

Piquant  entreaty,  all  that  eye-glance  overskims. 

Does  this  much  pleasure  ?     Then  repay  the  pleasure ; 
23  ut 

Its  price  i'  the  tambourine  !     Do  you  seek  farther?    Tut ! 

I'm  just  my  instrument,  —  sound  hollow;  mere  smooth 
skin 

Stretched  o'er  gilt  framework,  I  :  rub-dub,  nought  else 
within  — 

Always,  for  such  as  you !  —  if  I  have  use  elsewhere  ; 

If  certain  bells,  now  mute,  can  jingle,  need  you  care  ? 

Be  it  enough,  there's  truth  i'  the  pleading,  which   com- 
ports 

With  no  word  spoken  out  in  cottages  or  courts  ; 

Since  all  I  plead  is,  '  Pay  for  just  the  sight  you  see, 

And  give  no  credit  to  another  charm  in  me.' 

Do  I  say,  like  your  love,  '  To  praise  my  face  is  well ; 

But  who  would  know  my  worth  must  search  my  heart 
to  tell '  ? 
3 


34  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Do  I  say,  like  your  wife  ?  —  '  Had  I  passed  in  review 

The  produce  of  the  globe,  my  man  of  men  were  —  you  ! ' 

Do  I  say,  like  your  Helen  ?  — '  Yield  yourself  up,  obey 

Implicitly,  nor  pause  to  question,  to  survey 

Even  the  worshipful ;  prostrate  you  at  my  shrine  : 

Shall  you  dare  controvert  what  the  world  counts  divine  ? 

Array  your  private  taste,  owb  liking  of  the  sense, 

Own  longing  of  the  soul,  against  the  impudence 

Of  history,  the  blare  and  bullpng  of  verse  ? 

As  if  man  ever  yet  saw  reason  to  disburse 

The  amount  of  what  sense   liked,  soul    longed   for,  — 

given,  devised 
As  love,  forsooth,  —  until  the  price  was  recognized 
As  moderate  enough  by  divers  fellow-men  ! 
Then,  with  his  warrant  safe  that  these  would  love  too,  then, 
Sure  that  particular  gain  implies  a  public  loss. 
And  that  no  smile  he  buys  but  proves  a  slash  across 
The  face,  a  stab  into  the  side  of  somebody  ; 
Sure  that,  along  with  love's  main  purchase,  he  will  buy 
Up  the  whole  stock  of  earth's  uncharitableness, 
En\y  and  hatred,  —  then  decides  he  to  profess 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  35 

His  estimate  of  one  love  had  discerned,  though  dim 
To   all   the  world   beside :   since   what's    the  world    to 

him  ? ' 
Do  I  say,  like  your  Queen  of  EgA-pt  ?  — '  Who  foregoes 
My   cup   of    witchcraft  —  fault   be   on    the    fool!      He 

knows 
Nothing  of  how  I  pack  my  wine-press,  turn  its  winch 
Three  times  three,  all  the  time  to  song  and  dance,  nor 

flinch 
From  charming  on  and  on,  till  at  the  last  I  squeeze 
Out  the  exhaustive  drop  that  leaves  behind  mere  lees 
And  dregs,  vapidit}^,  thought  essence  heretofore  ! 
Sup  of  my  sorcery,  old  pleasures  please  no  more  ! 
Be  great,  be  good,  love,  learn,  have  potency  of  hand 
Or  heart  or  head,  —  what  boots?     You  die,  nor  under- 
stand 
What  bliss  might  be  in  life  :   you   ate  the  grapes,  but 

knew 
Never  the  taste  of  wine,  such  vintage  as  I  brew !  ' 
Do  I  say,  like  your  saint?  —  'An  exquisitest  touch 
Bides  in  the  birth  of  things :  no  after-time  can  muc  h 


36  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Enhance  that  fine,  that  faint,  fugitive  first  of  all  ! 

What  color  paints  the  cup  o'  the  May-rose  like  the  small 

Suspicion  of  a  blush  which  doubtfull}'  begins  ? 

What  sound  out-warbles  brook,  while,  at  the  source,  it 

wins 
That  moss  and  stone  dispart,  allow  its  bubblings  breathe? 
What  taste  excels  the  fruit,  just  where  sharp   flavors 

sheathe 
Their  sting,  and  let  encroach  the  honey  that  allays  ? 
And  so  with  soul  and  sense :  when  sanctity  betrays 
First  fear  lest  earth  belov/  seem  real  as  heaven  above, 
And  holy  worship,  late,  change  soon  to  sinful  love, 
Where  is  the  plenitude  of  passion  which  endures 
Comparison  with  that,  I  ask  of  amateurs  ? ' 
Do  I  say,  like  Elvire  "  — 

XXXIII. 

(Your  husband  holds  you  fast. 
Will  have  you  listen,  learn  your  character  at  last !)  — 
"  Do  I  say  ?  —  like  her  mixed  unrest  and  discontent, 
Reproachfulness  and  scorn,  with  that  submission  bleiit 


F I  FINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  37 

So  strangely  in  the  face  by  sad  smiles  and  gay  tears,  — 
Quiescence  which  attacks,  rebellion  which  endears,  — 
Say  ?  —  'As  you  love  me  once,  could  you  but  love  me 

now  ! 
Years  probably  have  graved  their  passage  on  my  brow, 
Lips  turn  more  rarely  red,  eyes  sparkle  less  than  erst ; 
Such  tribute  body  pays  to  time  :  but,  unamerced, 
The  soul  retains,  nay,  boasts  old  treasure  multiplied. 
Though  dew-prime  flee,  —  mature  at  noonday,  love  defied 
Chance,  the  wind,  change,  the  rain  ;  love,  strenuous  all 

the  more 
For  storm,  struck  deeper  root,  and  choicer  fruitage  bore, 
Despite  the  rocking  world.      Yet  truth  struck  root  in 

vain  : 
While  tenderness  bears  fruit,  you  praise,  not  taste  again. 
Why  ?     They  are  yours,  which  once  were  hardly  yours, 

might  go 
To  grace  another's  ground ;   and  then  —  the  hopes  we 

know, 
The  fears  we  keep  in  mind  !  when,  ours  to  arbitrate. 
Your  part  was  to  bow  neck,  bid  fall  decree  of  fate. 


38  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Then,   oh   the   knotty   point !  —  white-night's   work    to 

revolve,  — 
What  meant  that  smile,  that  sigh  ?     Not   Solon's  self 

could  solve  ! 
Then,  oh  the  deep  surmise  what  one  word  might  express ! 
And   if  what   sounded   "  No "   may   not   have   echoed 

"  Yes ! " 
Then  such  annoy  could  cause  cold  welcome,  such  ac- 

quist 
Of  rapture,   that,  refused  the   arm,   hand    touched  the 

wrist ! 
Now,  what's  a  smile  to  you  ?     Poor  candle  that  lights  up 
The  decent  household  gloom  which  sends  you  out  to  sup. 
A  tear  ?  worse !  warns  that  health  requires  you  keep 

aloof 
From  nuptial  chamber,  since  rain  penetrates  the  roof! 
For  all  is  got  and  gained,  inalienably  safe, 
Your  own,  and,  so,  despised ;  more  worth  has  any  waif 
Or  stray  from  neighbor's  pale  :  pouch  that,  —  'tis  pleas- 
ure, pride, 
Novelty,  property,  and  larceny  beside  ! 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  39 

Preposterous  thought !  to  find  no  value  fixed  in  things  ; 
To  covet  all  you  see,  hear,  dream  of,  till  fate  brings 
About,  that,  what  you  want,  you  get ;    then  comes   a 

change. 
Give  you  the  sun  to  keep,  forthwith  must  fancy  range : 
A  goodly  lamp,  no  doubt ;  yet  might  you  catch  her  hair, 
And  capture,  as  she  frisks,  the  fen-fire  dancing  there  ! 
What  do  I  say  ?  at  least,  a  meteor's  half  in  heaven : 
Pro\'ided  filth  but  shine,  my  husband  hankers  even 
After  putridity  that's  phosphorescent ;  cribs 
The  rustic's  tallow-rush  ;  makes  spoil  of  urchins'  squibs; 
In  short,  prefers  to  me  —  chaste,  temperate,  serene  — 
\Miat  sputters  green  and  blue,  this  fizgig  called  Fifine ! ' " 

XXXIV. 

So   all  your  sex  mistake  !     Strange  that  so  plain   a 

fact 
Should   raise   such   dire   debate !      Few   families   were 

racked 
By  torture  self-supplied,  did  Nature  grant  but  tliis,  — 
That  women  comprehend  mental  analysis  ! 


40  FIFINE  AT  THE   FAIR. 

XXXV. 

Elvlre,  do  3^011  recall  when,  years  ago,  our  home 
The  intimation  reached,  a  certain  pride  of  Rome, 
Authenticated  piece,  in  the  third,  last,  and  best 
Manner,  —  whatever  fools  and  connoisseurs  contest, — 
No  particle  disturbed  by  rude  restorer's  touch, 
The  palaced  picture-pearl,  so  long  eluding  clutch 
Of  creditor,  at  last  the  Raphael  might  —  could  we 
But  come  to  terms  —  change  lord,  pass  from  the  prince 

to  me  ? 
I  think  you  recollect  my  fever  of  a  year  ; 
How^  the  prince  would,  and  how  he  would  not :  now,  too 

dear 
That  promise  was  he  made  his  grandsire  so  long  since, — 
Rather  to  boast  "I  own  a  Raphael "  than  "  am  prince  !  " 
And  now,  the  fancy  soothed,  —  if  really  sell  he  must 
His  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage, —  such  a  thrust 
I'  the  vitals  of  the  prince  were  mollified  by  balm. 
Could  he  prevail  upon  his  stomach  to  bear  qualm. 
And  bequeath  Liberty  (because  a  purchaser 
Was  ready  with  the  sum,  —  a  trifle  !);  yes,  transfer 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  4* 

His  heart,  at  all  events,  to  that  land  where,  at  least, 

Free  institutions  reign  !     And  so,  its  price  increased 

Fivefold  (Americans  are  such  importunates  !), 

Soon  must  his  Raphael  start  for  the  United  States. 

Oh  alternating  bursts  of  hope,  and  then  despair  ! 

At  last,  the  bargain's  struck;  I'm  all  but  beggared:  there 

The  Raphael  faces  me,  in  fine,  no  dream  at  all, 

My  housemate,  evermore  to  glorify  my  wall. 

A  week  I  pass,  before  heart-palpitations  sink, 

In  gloating  o'er  my  gain,  so  lately  on  the  brink 

Of  loss  ;  a  fortnight  more  1  spend  in  paradise  :  — 

"  Was  outline  e'er  so  true,  could  coloring  entice 

So  calm,  did  harmony  and  quiet  so  avail  ? 

How  right,  how  resolute,  the  action  tells  the  tale  !  " 

A  month,  I  bid  my  friends  congratulate  their  best  :  — 

"  You  happy  Don  !  "  (to  me)  "  The  blockhead !  "  (to  the 

rest)  : 
"  No  doubt  he  thinks  his  daub  original,  poor  dupe  !  " 
Then  I  resume  my  life  :  one  chamber  must  not  coop 
My  life  in,  though  it  boast  a  marvel  like  my  prize. 
This  year,  I  saunter  past  with  unaverted  eyes  ; 


42  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Nay,  loll  and  turn  my  back  ;  perchance  to  overlook 
With  relish,  leaf  by  leaf,  Dore's  last  picture-book. 

XXXVI. 

Imagine  that  a  voice  reproached  me  from  its  frame  :  — 
"  Here  do   I  hang,  and  may  !     Your  Raphael,  just  the 

same  ; 
'Tis  only  you  that  change  :  no  ecstasies  of  yore  ! 
No  purposed  suicide  distracts  you  any  more  !  " 
Prompt  would  my  answer  turn  such  frivolous  attack  :  — 
"  You  misappropriate  sensations.     What  I  lack. 
And  labor  to  obtain,  is  hoped  and  feared  about 
After  a  fashion  :  what  I  once  obtain,  makes  doubt, 
Expectancy,  old  fret  and  fume,  henceforward  void. 
But  do  I  think  to  hold  my  havings  unalloyed 
By  novel  hope  and  fear,  of  fashion  just  as  new, 
To  correspond  i'  the  scale  ?     Nowise,  I  promise  you ! 
Mine  you  are,  therefore  mine  will  be,  as  fit  to  cheer 
My  soul  and  glad  my  sense  to-day  as  this-day-year. 
So,  any  sketch  or  scrap,  pochade,  caricature, 
Made  in  a  moment,  meant  a  moment  to  endure, 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  43 

I  snap  at,  seize,  and  then  forever  throw  aside, 

And  find  you  in  your  place.     But  if  a  servant  cried 

'  Fire  in  the  gallery  ! '  —  methinks,  were  I  engaged 

In  Dore,  elbow-deep,  portfolios  million-paged 

To  the  four  winds  would  pack,  sped   by  the  heartiest 

curse 
Was  ever  launched  from  lip,  to  strew  the  universe ; 
While  I  would  brave  the  best  o'  the  burning,  bear  away 
Either  my  perfect  piece  in  safety,  or  else  stay 
And  share  its  fate  :  if  made  a  martyr,  why  repine  ? 
Inextricably  wed,  such  ashes  mixed  with  mine  !  " 

xxxvii. 
For  which  I  get  the  eye,  the  hand,  the  heart,  the  whole 
O'  the  wondrous  wife  again  ! 

XXXVIII. 

But  no  :  play  out  your  role 
['  the  pageant !     'Tis  not  fit  your  phantom  leave  the 

stage  : 
I  want  you,  there,  to  make  you,  here,  confess  you  wage 


J 


44  FIFINE  AT  THE   FAIR. 

Successful  warfare,  pique  those  proud  ones,  and  advance 

Claim  to  —  equality  ?  nay,  but  predominance 

In  physique  o'er  them  all,  where  Helen  heads  the  scene 

Closed  by  its  tiniest  of  tail-tips,  pert  Fifine. 

How  ravishingly  pure  you  stand  in  pale  constraint  I 

My  new-created  shape,  without  or  touch  or  taint. 

Inviolate  of  life  and  worldliness  and  sin,  — 

Fettered,  I  hold  my  flower,  her  own  cup's  weight  would 

win 
From  off  the  tall  slight  stalk  a-top  of  which  she  turns 
And  trembles,  makes  appeal  to  one  who  roughly  earns 
Her  thanks  instead  of  blame  (did  lily  only  know), 
By  thus  constraining  length  of  lily,  letting  snow 
Of  cup-crown,  that's  her  face,  look  from  its  guardian 

stake, 
Superb  on  all  that  crawls  beneath,  and  mutely  make 
Defiance,  with  the  mouth's  white  movement  of  disdain, 
To  all  that  stoops,  retires,  and  hovers  round  again ! 
How  windingly  the  limbs  delay  to  lead  up,  reach 
Where,  crowned,  the  head  waits  calm  !  as  if  reluctant, 

each, 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  4$ 

That  eye  should  traverse  quick  such  lengths  of  loveli- 
ness, 
From  feet,  which  just  are  found  embedded  in  the  dress 
Deep  swathed  about  with  folds  and  Rowings  virginal 
Up  to  the  pleated  breasts,  rebellious  'neath  their  pall, 
As  if  the  vesture's  snow  were  moulding  sleep,  not  death  ; 
Must  melt,  and  must  release  :    whereat,   from  the  fine 

sheath, 
The  flower-cup-crown  starts  free,  the  face  is  unconcealed ; 
And  what  shall  now  divert,  once  the  sweet  face  revealed. 
From  all  I  loved  so  long,  so  lingeringly  left  ? 

XXXIX. 

Because,  indeed,  your  face  fits  into  just  the  cleft 
O'  the  heart  of  me,  Elvire  ;  makes  right  and  whole  once 

more 
All  that  was  half  itself  without  you  !     As  before. 
My  truant  in  its  place  !     Because  e'en  sea-shells  yearn, 
Plundered  by  any  chance  :  would  have  their  pearl  return. 
Let.  negligently  slip  away  into  the  wave  ! 
Never  may  they  desist,  those  eyes  so  gray  and  grave. 


46  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

From  their  slow  sure  supply  of  the  effluent  soul  within ! 
And  —  would  you  humor  me  ?  —  I  dare  to  ask,  unpin 
The  web  of  that  brown  hair!     O'erwash  o'  the  sudden, 

but 
As  promptly,  too,  disclose,  on  either  side,  the  jut 
Of  alabaster  brow  !     So  part,  those  rillets  dyed 
Deep  by  the  woodland  leaf,  when  down  they  pour,  each 

side 
O'  the  rock-top,  pushed  by  Spring ! 

XL. 

"  And  where  i'  the  world  is  all 
This  wonder,  I  detail  so  trippingly,  espied  ? 
Your  mirror  would  reflect  a  tall,  thin,  pale,  deep-eyed 
Personage,  pretty  once,  it  may  be,  doubtless  still, 
Loving,  —  a  certain  grace  yet  lingers,  if  I  will,  — 
But  all  this  wonder,  where  ? " 

XLI. 

Why,  where  but  in  the  sense 
And  soul  of  me,  the  judge  of  art?     Art-evidence, 


FIFTNE  AT  THE  FAIR.  47 

That  thing  was,  is,  might  be ;  but  no  more  thing  itself 
Than  flame  is  fuel.     Once  the  verse-book  laid  on  shelf, 
The  picture  turned  to  wall,  the  music  fled  from  ear, 
Each   beauty,  born   of  each,  grows   clearer  and   more 

clear, 
Mine  henceforth,  ever  mine  ! 

XLII. 

But  if  I  would  retrace 
Effect  in  art  to  cause,  corroborate,  erase 
What's  right  or  wrong  i'  the  lines,  test  fancy  in  my  brain 
By  fact  which  gave  it  birth  ?     I  reperuse  in  vain 
The  verse  ;  I  fail  to  find  that  vision  of  delight 
I'  the  Razzi's  lost  profile,  eye-edge  so  exquisite. 
And  music  :  what  ?  that  burst  of  pillared  cloud  by  day 
And  pillared  fire  by  night  was  product,  must  we  say. 
Of  modulating  just  by  enharmonic  change,  — 
The  augmented  sixth  resolved,  —  from  out  the  straighter 

range 
Of  D  sharp  minor,  —  leap  of  disimprisoned  thrall, — 
Into  thy  light  and  life,  D  major  natural  ? 


48  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

XLIII. 
Elvire,  will  you  partake  in  what  I  shall  impart  ? 
I  seem  to  understand  the  way  heart  chooses  heart 
By  help  of  the  outside  face,  —  a  reason  for  our  wild 
Diversity  in  choice, — why  each  grows  reconciled 
To  what  is  absent,  what  superfluous  in  the  mask  : 
Material  meant  to  yield,  —  did  Nature  ply  her  task 
As  artist  should,  —  precise  the  features  of  the  soul  ; 
Which,  if  in  any  case  they  found  expression,  whole 
r  the  traits,  would  give  a  type,  undoubtedly  display 
A  novel,  true,  distinct  perfection  in  its  way. 
Never  shall  I  believe  any  two  souls  were  made 
Similar  :  granting,  then,  each  soul  of  every  grade 
Was  meant  to  be  itself,  and  in  itself  complete, 
And  in  completion  good,  —  nay,  best  o'  the  kind,  —  as 

meet 
Needs  must  it  be  that  show  on  the  outside  correspond 
With  inward   substance,  —  flesh,  the  dress  which  soul 

has  donned. 
Exactly  reproduce,  —  were  only  justice  done 
Inside  and  outside  too,  —  t}'pes  perfect  every  one. 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  49 

How  happens  it  that  here  we  meet  a  mystery 
InsoKible  to  man,  a  plaguy  puzzle  ?     Why 
Either  is  each  soul  made  imperfect,  and  deserves 
As  rude  a  face  to  match,  or  else  a  bungler  swen^es, 
And  Nature,  on  a  soul  worth  rendering  aright, 
Works    ill,   or   proves    perverse,    or,    in    her   own    de- 
spite, — 
Here  too  much,  there  too  little,  —  makes  each  face  more 

or  less 
Retire  from  beautv',  and  approach  to  ugliness  ? 
And  yet  succeeds  the  same  :    since,  what  is  wanting  to 

success, 
If  somehow  every  face,  no  matter  how  deform, 
Evidence  to  some  one  of  hearts  on  earth,  that,  warm 
Beneath  the  veriest  ash,  there  hides  a  spark  of  soul, 
Which,  quickened  by  love's  breath,  may  yet  pervade  the 

whole 
O'  the  gray,  and,  free  again,  be   fire?  —  of  worth  the 

same, 
Howe'er  produced ;  for,  great  or  little,  flame  is  flame. 
A  myster)',  whereof  solution  is  to  seek. 


5©  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

XLIV. 
I  find  it  in  the  fact  that  each  soul,  just  as  weak 
Its  own  way  as  its  fellow,  —  departure  from  design 
As  flagrant  in  the  flesh,  — goes  striving  to  combine 
With  what  shall  right  the  wrong,  the  under  or  above 
The  standard  ;  supplement  unloveliness  by  love. 
Ask  Plato  else !     And  this  corroborates  the  sage, 
That  art, — which  I  may  style  the  love  of  loving,  rage 
Of  knowing,  seeing,  feeling  the  absolute  truth  of  things 
For  truth's  sake,  whole  and  sole,  nor  any  good    truth 

brings 
The  knower,  seer,  feeler,  beside,  —  instinctive  art, 
Must  fumble  for  the  whole,  once  fixing  on  a  part, 
However  poor,  surpass  the  fragment,  and  aspire 
To  reconstruct  thereby  the  ultimate  entire. 
Art,  working  with  a  will,  discards  the  superflux. 
Contributes  to  defect,  toils  on,  till  — fiat  lux  — 
There's  the  restored,  the  prime,  the  individual  type ! 

XLV. 

Look,  for  example,  now  !     This  piece  of  broken  pipe 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  51 

(Some  shipman's  solace  erst)  shall  act  as  crayon  ;  and 
What  tablet  better  serves  my  purpose  than  the  sand  ?  — 
Smooth  slab  whereon  I  draw,  no  matter  with  what  skill, 
A  face,  and  yet  another,  and  yet  another  still. 
There  lie  my  three  prime  types  of  beauty  ! 


XLVI. 

Laugh  your  best ! 
"  Exaggeration  and  absurdity  ?  "     Confessed  ! 
Yet  what  may  that  face  mean  ?  —  no  matter  for  its  nose, 
A  yard  long  ;  or  its  chin,  a  foot  short. 


XLVII. 

"  You  suppose. 
Horror  ?  "     Exactly  !     What's  the  odds,  if,  more  or  less 
By  yard  or  foot,  the  features  do  manage  to  express 
Such  meaning  in  the  main .-'    Were  I  of  Gerome's  force. 
Nor  feeble  as  you  see,  quick  should  my  crayon  course 
O'er  outline,  curb,  excite,  till  —  so  completion  speeds 
With  Gerome  well  at  work  —  observe  how  brow  recedes, 


52  FIFINE  AT   THE   FAIR. 

Head  shudders  back  on  spine,  as  if  one  haled  the  hair, 
Would  have  the  full-face  front  what  pin-point  eye's  sharp 

stare 
Announces  ;  mouth  agape  to  drink  the  flowing  fate, 
While  chin  protrudes  to  meet  the  burst  o'  the  wave  :  elate 
Almost,  spurred  on  to  brave  necessity,  expend 
All  life  left,  in  one  flash,  as  fire  does  at  its  end. 
Retrenchment  and  addition  effect  a  masterpiece, 
Not  change  i'  the  motive  :  here  diminish,  there  increase ; 
And  who  wants  Horror  has  it. 

XL  VIII. 

Who  wants  some  other  show 
Of  soul  may  seek  elsewhere,  —  this  second  of  the  row  ? 
What  does  it  give  for  germ,  monadic  mere  intent 
Of  mind  in  face,  faint  first  of  meanings  ever  meant? 
Why,  possibly,  a  grin,  that,  strengthened,  grows  a  laugh  ; 
That,  softened,  leaves  a  smile  ;  that,  tempered,  bids  you 

quaff 
At  such  a  magic  cup  as  English  Reynolds  once 
Compounded :  for  the  witch  pulls  out  of  you  response 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  53 

Like  Garrick's  to  Thalia,  however  due  may  be 

Your  homage  claimed  by  that  stiff-stoled  Melpomene  ! 

XLIX. 

And  just  this  one  face  more  !     Pardon   the  bold  pre- 
tence ! 
May  there  not  lurk  some  hint,  struggle  toward  evidence. 
In  that  compressed  mouth,  those  strained  nostrils,  stead- 
fast eyes 
Of  utter  passion,  absolute  self-sacrifice. 
Which — could  I  but  subdue  the  wild  grotesque,  refine 
That  bulge  of  brow,  make  blunt  that  nose's  aquiline, 
And  let,  although  compressed,  a  point  of  pulp  appear 
I'  the  mouth  —  would  give  at  last  the  portrait  of  Elvire  ? 

L. 

Well,  and  if  so  succeed  hand-practice  on  awry 
Preposterous  art-mistake,  shall  soul-proficiency 
Despair,  —  when  exercised  on  nature,  which  at  worst 
Always  implies  success,  —  however  crossed  and  curst 


54  FIFINE  AT   THE   FAIR.       - 

By  failure,  —  such  as  art  would  emulate  in  vain? 

Shall  any  soul  despair  of  setting  free  again 

Trait  after  trait,  until  the  type  as  wholly  start 

Forth,  visible  to  sense,  as  that  minutest  part, 

(Whate'er  the  chance,)  which,  first  arresting  eye,  warned 

soul, 
That,  under  wrong  enough  and  ravage,  lay  the  whole 
O'    the   loveliness   it   "  loved,"  —  I    take   the    accepted 

phrase  ? 


LI. 

So  I  account  for  tastes  :  each  chooses,  none  gainsays 
The  fancy  of  his  fellow,  a  paradise  for  him, 
A  hell  for  all  beside.     You  can  but  crown  the  brim 
O'  the  cup  :  if  it  be  full,  what  matters  less  or  more  ? 
Let  each  i'  the  world  amend  his  love,  as  I  o'  the  shore 
My  sketch,  and  the  result  as  undisputed  be  ! 
Their  handiwork  to  them,  and  my  Elvire  to  me  : 
Result  more  beautiful  than  Beauty's  self,  when,  lo, 
What  was  my  Raphael  turns  my  Michelagnolo ! 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  55 

/  I 

-  ,  .  LII 

For  we  two  boast,  beside  our  pearl,  a  diamond.  /  ./^-       ■- 
V  the  palace-gallery,  the  corridor  beyond,  r  ^    ' 

Upheaves  itself  a  marble,  a  magnitude  man-shaped 
As    snow    might    be.      One    hand  —  the    Master's  — 

smoothed  and  scraped 
That    mass    he   hammered   on    and    hewed    at,  till    he 

hurled 
Life  out  of  death,  and  left  a  challenge  :  for  the  world. 
Death  still ;  since  who  shall  dare,  close  to  the  image,  say 
If  this  be  purposed  Art,  or  mere  mimetic  play 
Of  Nature  ?  —  wont  to  deal  with  crag  or  cloud,  as  stuff 
To  fashion  novel  forms,  like  forms  we  know,  enough 
For  recognition,  but  enough  unlike  the  same 
To  leave  no  hope  ourselves  may  profit  by  her  game  : 
Death  therefore  to  the  world.       Step  back  a  pace  or 

two  ! 
And  then  who  dares  dispute  the  gradual  birth  its  due 
Of  breathing  life,  or  breathless  immortalit}-, 
Where  out  she  stands,  and  yet  stops  short,  half  bold, 

half  shy. 


56  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Hesitates  on  the  threshold  of  things,  since  partly  blent 
With  stuff  she  needs  must  quit,  her  native  element 
r  the  mind  o'  the  Master,  —  what's  the   creature,  dear- 
divine 
Yet  earthly-awful  too,  so  manly-feminine. 
Pretends   this   white   advance  ?     What    startling   brain- 
escape 
Of  Michelagnolo  takes  elemental  shape  ? 
I  think  he  meant  the  daughter  of  the  old  man  o'  the 

sea. 
Emerging  from  her  wave,  goddess  Eidothee,  — 
She  who,  in  elvish  sport,  spite  with  benevolence 
Mixed   ISIab-wise    up,    must   needs    instruct    the    hero 

whence 
Salvation  dawns  o'er  that  mad  misery  of  his  isle. 
Yes,  she  imparts  to  him  by  what  a  pranksome  wile 
He  may  surprise  her  sire,  asleep  beneath  a  rock, 
When  he  has  told  their  tale,  amid  his  web-foot  flock 
Of  sea-beasts,  "  fine  fat  seals  with  bitter  breath  !  "  laughs 

she 
At  whom  she  likes  to  save,  no  less  :  Eidothee, 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  57 

Whom  you  shall  never  face  evolved,  in  earth,  in  air, 

In  wave;  but,  manifest  i'  the  soul's  domain, — why,  there 

She  ravishingly  moves  to  meet  you,  all  through  aid 

O'  the  soul !     Bid  shine  what  should,  dismiss  into  the 

shade 
^^'hat  should  not  be,  and  there  triumphs  the  paramount 
Emprise  o'  the  Master  !     But  attempt  to  make  account 
Of    what   the    sense   without   the    soul    perceives  ?      1 

bought 
That  work  (despite  plain  proof  whose  hand  it  was  had 

wrought 
I'  the  rough,  I  think  we  trace  the  tool  of  triple-tooth 
Here,  there,  and  ever)'where),  —  bought  dearly  that  un- 
couth, 
Unwieldy  bulk,    for    just   ten    dollars,  —  "  Bulk    would 

fetch  — 
Converted   into    lime  —  some   five   pauls  !  "   grinned    a 

wretch. 
Who,  bound  on  business,  paused  to  hear  the  bargaining, 
4nd   would  have   pitied   me  "  but   for  the   fun   o'  the 

thing  !  " 


$8  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

LIII. 
Shall  such  a  wretch  be  —  you  ?     Must — while  I  show 
Elvire 
Shaming  all  other  forms,  seen  as  I  see  her  here 
I'  the  soul  —  this  other-you  perversely  look  outside, 
And  ask  me,  "  Where  i'  the  world  is  charm  to  be  descried 
I'  the  tall  thin  personage,  with  paled  eye,  pensive  face, 
Any  amount  of  love,  and  some  remains  of  grace  ?  " 
See  yourself  in  my  soul ! 

LIV. 

And  what  a  world  for  each 
Must  somehow  be  i'  the  soul  !  —  accept  that  mode  of 

speech,  — 
Whether  an  aura  gird  the  soul,  wherein  it  seems 
To  float  and  move,  a  belt  of  all  the  glints  and  gleams 
It  struck  from  out  that  world  its  weaklier  fellows  found 
So  dead  and  cold ;  or  whether  these  not  so  much  sur- 
round 
As  pass  into  the  soul  itself,  add  worth  to  worth, 
As  wine  enriches  blood,  and  straightway  send  it  forth, 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  59 

Conquering  and  to  conquer,  through  all  eternity  : 
That's  battle  without  end. 

LV. 

I  search  but  cannot  see 
What  purpose  serves  the  soul  that  strives,  or  world  it 

tries 
Conclusions  with,  unless  the  fruit  of  victories 
Stay,  one  and  all,  stored  up  and  guaranteed  its  own 
Forever  b\^  some  mode  whereby  shall  be  made  known 
The  gain  of  every  life.     Death  reads  the  tide  clear,  — 
What  each  soul  for  itself  conquered  from  out  things  here  ; 
Since  in  the  seeing  soul  all  worth  lies,  I  assert, 
And  nought  i"  the  world,  which,  save "  for  soul  that  sees, 

inert 
Was,  is,  and  would  be  ever,  —  stuff  for  transmuting,  — 

null 
And  void  until  man's  breath  evoke  the  beautiful  ; 
But,    touched    aright,    prompt    yields    each    particle    it.s 

tongue 
Of  elemental  flame,  no  matter  whence  flame  sprung 


6o  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

From  gums  and  spice,  or  else  from  straw  and   rotten- 
ness, 
So  long  as  soul  has  power  to  make  them  burn,  express 
What   lights    and    warms    henceforth,    leaves    only    ash 

behind, 
Howe'er  the  chance  :\if  soul  be  privileged  to  find 
Food  so  soon,  that  at  first  snatch  of  eye,  suck  of  breath, 
It  shall  absorb  pure  life;  or,  rather,  meeting  death 
I'  the  shape  of  ugliness,'  by  fortunate  recoil 
So  put  on  its  resource,  it  finds  therein  a  foil 
For  a  new  birth  of  life,  the  challenged  soul's  response 
To  ugliness  and  death,  —  creation  for  the  nonce. 

LVI. 

I  gather  heart  through  just  such  conquests  of  the  soul 
Through  evocation  out  of  that,  which,  on  the  whole. 
Was  rough,  ungainly,  pardal  accomplishment  at  best. 
And — 'what,    at   worst,    save   failure    to    spit    at    and 

detest  ?  — 
Through  transference  of  all,  achieved  in  visible  things, 
To  rest,  secure  from  wrong,  'mid  mere  imaginings  ; 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  6 1 

Through  ardor  to  bring  help  just  where  completion  halts, 
Do  justice  to  the  purpose,  ignore  the  slips  and  faults  ; 
And  last,  not  least,  with  stark  deformity  through  fight 
Wliich  wrings  thence,  at  the  end,  precise  its  opposite. 
I  praise  the  loyalt}^  o'  the  scholar  —  stung  by  taunt 
Of  fools,  "  Does  this  evince  thy  Master  they  so  vaunt? 
Did  he  then  perpetrate  the  plain  abortion  here  ?  "  — 
Who  cries,  "  His  work  am  I  !  full  fraught  by  him,  I  clear 
His  fame  from  each  result  of  accident  and  time. 
And  thus  restore  his  work  to  its  fresh  morning-prime  : 
Not  daring  touch  the  mass  of  marble,  fools  deride, 
But  putting  my  idea  in  plaster  by  its  side. 
His,  since  mine ;  I,  he  made,  vindicate  who  made  me  !  " 

LVII. 

For,  you  must  know,  I  too  achieve  Eidothee, 
In  silence  and  by  night,  —  dared  justify  the  lines 
Plain  to  my  soul,  although,  to  sense,  tba^^pfe-titie's 
Achievement   halt   half-way,    break   down,   or-4€ave-^ 

-  blank. 
If  she  stood  forth  at  last,  the  Master  was  to  thank  ! 


62  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Yet  may  there  not  have  smiled  approval  in  his  eyes,  — 
That  one  at  least  was  left,  who,  born  to  recognize 
Perfection  in  the  piece  imperfect,  worked  that  night 
In  silence,  such  his  faith,  until  the  apposite 
Design  was  out  of  him,  truth  palpable  once  more ; 

/     And  then  —  for  at  one  blow  its  fragments  strewed  the 

',  floor  — 

Recalled  the  same  to  live  within  his  soul  as  heretofore. 

LVIII. 

And,  even  as  I  hold  and  have  Eidothee, 
I  say,  I  cannot  think  that  gains,  —  which  would  not  be 
Except  a  special  soul  had  gained  them,  —  that  such  gain 
Can  ever  be  estranged,  do  aught  but  appertain 
Immortally,  by  right  firm,  indefeasible, 
To  who  performed  the  feat,  through  God's  grace  and 

man's  will ! 
Gain  never  shared  by  those  who  practised  with  earth's 

stuff, 
And  spoiled  whate'er  they  touch,  leaving  its  roughness 

rough, 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  63 

Its  blankness  bare,  and,  when  the  ugliness  opposed, 
Either    struck   work,   or  laughed,   "He    doted    or  he 
'dozed  1 " 

LIX. 

'    While,  oh,  how  all  the  more  will  love  become  intense 
Hereafterj  when  "  to  love  "  means  yearning  to  dispense. 
Each  soul,  its  own  amount  of  gain,  through  its  own  mode 
Of  practising  with  life,  upon  some  soul  which  owed 
Its  treasure,  all  diverse,  and  yet  in  worth  the  same. 
To  new  work  and  changed  way  !     Things  furnish  you 

rose-flame, 
"Which  burn  up  red,  green,  blue,  nay,  yellow,  more  than 

needs. 
For  me,  I  nowise  doubt :  why  doubt  a  time  succeeds 
When  each  one  may  impart,  and  each  receive,  both  share 
The  chemic  secret,  learn,  where^I  lit  force, — why,  there 
You  drew  forth  lambent  pity  ;  where  I  found  only  food 
For  self-indulgence,  you  still  blew  a  spark  at  brood 
I'  the  grayest  ember,  stopped  not  till  self-sacrifice  im- 
bued 


64  FIFINE  AT  THE   FAIR. 

Heaven's  face  with  flame?     What  joy  when  eacli   may 

supplement 
The  other,  changing  each,  as  changed,  till,  wholly  blent, 
The  old  things  shall  be  new,  and,  what  we  both  ignite, 
Fuse,  lose  the  varicolor  in  achromatic  white  ! 
Exemplifying  law,  apparent  even  now 
In  the  eternal  progress,  —  love's  law,  which  I  avow. 
And  thus  would  formulate  :  each  soul  lives,  longs,  and 

works 
For  itself,  by  itself, )because  a  loadstar  lurks, 
An  other  than  itself,  —  in  whatsoe'er  the  niche 
Of  mistiest  heaven  it  hide,  whoe'er  the  Glumdalclich 
May  grasp  the  Gulliver :  or  it,  or  he,  or  she,  — 
Theosutos  e  broteios  eper  kekramene,  — 
(For  fun's  sake,  where  the  phrase  has  fastened,  leave  it 

fixed  ! 
So  soft  it  says,  —  God^  man,  or  both  together  mixed !) 
This,  guessed  at  through  the  flesh,  by  parts  which  prove 

the  whole. 
This  constitutes  the  soul  discernible  by  soul,  — 
Elvire,  by  me  ! 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  65 

'■"*'*'  LX. 

"  And  then  "  (so  you  permit  remain 
This  hand  upon  my  arm! — your  cheek  dried,  if  you 

deign, 
Choosing  my  shoulder)  —  "  then  !  "  (stand  up  for,  boldly 

state, 
The  objection  in  its  length  and  breadth  !)  — "  you  abdi- 
cate. 
With  boast  yet  on  your  lip,  soul's  empire,  and  accept 
The  rule  of  sense ;  the  man,  from  monarch's  throne  has 

stept,  — 
Leaped,  rather,  at  one  bound,  to  base,  and   there  lies, 

brute. 
You  talk  of  soul,  —  how  soul,  in  search  of  soul  to  suit. 
Must  needs  review  the  sex,  the  army  rank  and  file 
Of  womankind ;  report  no  face  nor  form  so  vile 
But  that  a  certain  worth,  by  certain  signs,  may  thence 
Evolve    itself,    and    stand    confessed  —  to    soul  —  by 

sense. 
Sense  ?     Oh,  the  loyal  bee  endeavors  for  the  hive ! 
Disinterested  hunts  the  flower-field  through,  alive 


66  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Not  one  mean  moment,  no,  —  suppose  on   flower   he 

light,  — 
To  his  pecuHar  drop,  petal-dew  perquisite, 
Matter-of-course  snatched  snack  :  unless  he   taste,  how 

try  ? 
This,  light  on  tongue-tip  laid,  allows  him  pack  his  thigh, 
Transport  all  he  counts  prize,  provision  for  the  comb, 
Food  for  the  future  da)',  —  a  banquet,  but  at  home  ! 
Soul?      Ere  you  reach  Fifine's,  some  flesh  may  be  to 

pass  ! 
That  bombed  brow,  that  eye,  a  kindling  chrysoprase. 
Beneath  its  stiff  black  lash,  inquisitive  how  speeds 
Each  functionar)-  limb,  how  play  of  foot  succeeds, 
And  how  you  let  escape  or  duly  sympathize 
With  gastro-knemian  grace,  —  true,  your  soul  tastes  and 

tries, 
And  trifles  time  with  these,  but,  fear  not,  will  arrive 
At  essence  in  the  core,  bring  honey  home  to  hive. 
Brain-stock  and  heart-stuff  both,  —  to  strike   objectors 

dumb,  — 
Since  only  soul  affords  the  soul  fit  pabulum ! 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  6f 

/      Be  frank  for  charity  !     Who  is  it  you  deceive  — 

'       Yourself  or  me  or  God  —  with  all  this  make-believe  ? " 

LXI. 

And  frank  I  will  respond  as  you  interrogate. 
Ah,  Music,  wouldst  thou  help  !     Words  struggle  with  the 

weight 
So  feebly  of  the  False,  thick  element  between 
Our  soul,  the  True,  and  Truth !  which,  but  that  intervene 
False   shows    of    things,   were    reached    as    easily   by 

thought 
Reducible  to  word,  as  now  by  yearnings  wrought 
Up  with  thy  fine,  free  force,  O  Music  !  that  canst  thrid, 
Electrically  win,  a  passage  through  the  lid 
Of  earthly  sepulchre,  our  words  may  push  against. 
Hardly    transpierce    as    thou  !      Not    dissipate,    thou 

deign'st. 
So  much  as  tricksily  elude  what  words  attempt 
To  heave  away,  i'  the  mass,  and  let  the  soul,  exempt 
From  all  that  vapory  obstruction,  view,  instead 
Of  glimmer  underneath,  a  glory  overhead. 


68  F J  FINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Not  feebly,  like  our  phrase,  against  the  barrier  go 

In  suspirative  swell  the  authentic  notes  I  know  ; 

Ly  help  whereof,  I  would  our  souls  were  found  without 

The  pale,  above  the  dense  and  dim  which  breeds  the 

doubt ! 
But  Music,  dumb  for  you,  withdraws  her  help  from  me; 
And,  since  to  weary  words  recourse  again  must  be, 
At  least  permit  they  rest  their  burthen  here  and  there, 
Music-like  :  cover  space  !     My  answer  —  need  3-ou  care 
If  it  exceed  the  bounds,  reply  to  questioning 
You  never  meant  should  plague  ?     Once  fairly  on  the 

wing, 
Let  me  flap  far  and  wide ! 

LXII. 

For  this  is  just  the  time, 
The  place,  the  mood  in  you  and  me,  when  all  things 

chime, 
Clash  forth  life's  common  chord  ;  whence,  list  how  there 

ascend 
Harmonics  far  and  faint,  till  our  perception  end,  — 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  tf) 

Reverberated  notes  whence  we  construct  the  scale 
Embracing  what   we  know   and   feel   and   are !     How 

fail 
To  find,  or,  better,  lose  your  question,  in  this  quick 
Reply  which  Nature  yields,  ample  and  catholic  ? 
For,  arm  in  arm,  we  two  have  reached,  nay,  passed,  you 

see. 
The  village-precinct :  sun  sets  mild  on  Saint-Marie,  — 
We  only  catch  the  spire  ;  and  yet  I  seem  to  know 
What's  hid  i'  the  turn  o'  the  hill  ;  how  all  the  graves 

must  glow 
Soberly,  as  each  warms  its  little  iron  cross, 
Flourished    about   with   gold,   and    graced    (if   private 

loss 
Be  fresh)  with  stiff  rope-wreath  of  3'ellow,  crisp  bead- 

blooms 
Which  tempt  down  birds  to  pay  their  supper^  'mid  the 

tombs, 
With  prattle  good  as  song,  amuse  the  dead  a  while. 
If    couched     they    hear    beneath    the    matted    camo- 
mile ! 


70  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

LXIII. 
Bid  them  good-by  before  last  friend  has  sung  and 
supped ! 
Because  we  pick  our  path,  and  need  our  eyes,  —  abrupt 
Descent  enough  ;  but  here's  the  beach,  and  there's  the 

bay, 
And,  opposite,  the  streak  of  Isle  Noirmoutier. 
Thither  the  waters  tend  :  they  freshen  as  they  haste. 
At  feel  o'  the  night-wind ;  though,  by  cliff  and  cliff  em- 
braced. 
This  breadth  of  blue  retains  its  self-possession  still ; 
As  you  and  I  intend  to  do,  who  take  our  fill 
Of  sights  and  sounds,  —  soft  sound,  the  countless  hum 

and  skip 
Of  insects  we  disturb,  and  that  good  fellowship 
Of  rabbits  our  foot-fall  sends  huddling,  each  to  hide 
He  best  knows  how  and  where  \  and  what  whirred  past, 

wings  wide  ? 
That  was  an  owl,  their  young  may  justlier  apprehend ! 
Though  you  refuse  to  speak,  your  beating  heart,  my 
firiend, 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  Jl 

I  feel  against  my  arm ;  though  your  bent  head  forbids 
A  look  into  your  eyes,  yet  on  my  cheek  their  lids, 
That  ope  and  shut,  soft  send  a  silken  thrill  the  same. 
Well,  out  of  all  and  each  these  nothings  comes—  what 

came 
Often  enough  before  —  the  something  that  would  aim 
Once  more  at  the  old  mark  ;  the  impulse  to  at  last 
Succeed  where  hitherto  was  failure  in  the  past, 
And  yet  again  essay  the  adventure.     Clearlier  sings 
No  bird  to  its  couched  corpse, "  Into  the  truth  of  things  — 
Out  of  their  falseness  rise,  and  reach  thou,  and  remain  !  " 

LXIV. 

^     "  That  rise  into  the  true  out  of  the  false  —  explain  ? " 
May  an  example  serve  ?     In  yonder  bay  I  bathed 
This  sunny  morning ;  swam   my  best ;  then  hung,  half 

swathed 
With  chill   and  half  with  warmth,  i'  the  channel's  miil- 

most  deep  : 
Vou  know  how  one  —  not  treads,  but  stands  in  water  ? 

Keep 


72  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Body  and  limbs  below,  hold  head  back,  uplift  chin, 
And,  for  the  rest,  leave  care  !     If  brow,  eyes,  mouth, 

should  win 
Their  freedom,  —  excellent!      If   they  must  brook  the 

surge, 
No  matter  though  they  sink,  let  but  the  nose  emerge. 
So  all  of  me  in  brine  lay  soaking  :  did  I  care 
One  jot?     I  kept  alive  by  man's  due  breath  of  air 
r  the  nostrils,  high  and  dry.     At  times,  o'er  these  would 

run 
The  ripple,  even  wash  the  wavelet ;  for  the  sun 
Tempted  advance,  no  doubt :  and  always  flash  of  froth. 
Fish-outbreak,   bubbling  by,   would    find    me    nothing 

loath 
To  rise  and  look  around  ;  then  all  was  overswept 
With  dark  and  death  at  once.     But  trust  the  old  adept ! 
Back  went  again  the  head  ;  a  merest  motion  made. 
Fin-fashion,  either  hand ;  and  nostril  soon  conveyed 
The  news  that  light  and  life  were  still  in  reach  as  erst : 
Always  the  last,  and  —  wait  and  watch  —  sometimes  the 

first. 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  73 

Try  to   ascend  breast-high?   wave   arms  wide   free   of 

tether  ? 
Be  in  the  air,  and  leave  the  water  altogether  ? 
Under  went  all  again,  till  I  resigned  myself 
To  only  breathe  the  air,  that's  footed  by  an  elf; 
And  only  swim  the  water,  that's  native  to  a  fish. 
But  there  is  no  denying,  that  ere  I  curbed  my  wish, 
And  schooled  my  restive  arms,  salt  entered  mouth  and 

e3-es 
Often  enough,  —  sun,  sky,  and  air  so  tantalize  ! 
Still  the  adept  swims,  this  accorded,  that  denied ; 
Can  always  breathe,  sometimes  see  and  be  satisfied ! 

LXV. 

I  liken  to  this  play  o'  the  body  —  fiuitless  strife 
To  slip  the  sea,  and  hold  the  heaven  —  my  spirit's  life 
'Twixt  false,  whence  it  would  break,  and  true,  where  it 

would  bide. 
I  move  in,  yet  resist ;  am  upborne  ever}-  side 
By  what  I  beat  against,  —  an  element  too  gross 
To  live  in,  did  not  soul  duly  obtain  her  dose 


74  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Of  life-breath,  and  inhale  from  truth's  pure  plenitude 
Above  her,  snatch  and  gain  enough  to  just  illude 
With  hope  that  some  brave  bound  may  baflfie  evermore 
The  obstructing  medium,  make  who  swam  henceforward 

soar  : 
Gain  scarcely  snatched,  when,  foiled  by  the  very  effort, 

sowse, 
Underneath   ducks   the   soul,  her   truthward  yearnings 

dowse 
Deeper  in  falsehood  !  ay,  but  fitted  less  and  less 
To  bear  in  nose  and  mouth  old  briny  bitterness 
Proved  alien   more  and   more ;   since  each  experience 

proves 
Airtheessential  good,  not  sea,  wherein  who  moves 
Must   thence,   in   the   act,  escape,  apart   from   will    oi 

wish. 
Move  a  mere  hand  to  take  waterweed,  jelly-fish, 
Upward  you  tend  !     And  yet  our  business  with  the  sea 
Is  not  with  air,  but  just  o'  the  water,  water}'- : 
We  must  endure  the  false,  no  particle  of  which 
Do  we  acquaint  us  with,  but  up  we  mount  a  pitch 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  75 

Above  it,  find  our  head  reach  truth,  while  hands  explore 
The  false  below  :    so  much  while  here  we  bathe,  —  no 
more  ! 

LXVI. 

Now,  there  is  one  prime  point,  (hear  and  be  edified  !) 
One  truth  more  true  for  me  than  any  truth  beside ; 
To  wit,  that  I  am  I,  who  have  the  power  to  swim, 
The  skill  to  understand  the  law  whereby  each  limb 
May  bear  to  keep  immersed,  since,  in  return,  made  sure 
That  its  mere  movement  lifts  head  clean  through  cover- 
ture. 
^     By  practice    with    the   false,  I   reach   the   true  ^    Why, 
thence 
It  follows,  that  the  more  I  gain  self-confidence, 
j       Get  proof  I  know  the  trick,  can  float,  sink,  rise,  at  will. 
The  better  I  submit  to  what  I  have  the  skill 
To  conquer  in  my  turn,  even  now,  and  by  and  by 
Leave  wholly  for  the   land,  and  there  laugh,  shake  me 

dry 
To  last  drop,  saturate  with  noondaj,  —  no  need  more 
Of  wet  and  fret,  plagued  once  :  on  Pornic's  placid  shore 


76  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Abundant  air  to  breathe,  sufficient  sun  to  feel ! 

Meantime  I  buoy  myself:  no  whit  my  senses  reel 

When  over  me  there  breaks  a  billow  ;  nor,  elate 

Too  much  by  some  brief  taste,  I  quaff  intemperate 

The  air,  o'ertop  breast-high  the  wave-environment. 

Full  well  I  know,  the  thing  I  grasp,  as  if  intent 

To  hold,  —  my  wandering  wave,  —  will  not  be  grasped 

at  all : 
The  solid-seeming  grasped,  the  handful  great  or  small 
Must  go  to  nothing,  glide  through  fingers  fast  enough  ; 
But  none  the  less,  to  treat  liquidity  as  stuff  — 
Though  failure  —  certainly  succeeds  beyond  its  aim; 
Sends  head  above,  far  past  the  thing  hands  miss,  the 

same. 

LXVII. 

So  with  this  wash  o'  the  world,  wherein  life-long  we 
drift  : 
We  push  and  paddle  through  the  foam  by  making  shift 
To  breathe  above  at  whiles,  when,  after  deepest  duck 
Down  underneath  the  show,  we  put  forth  hand,  and  pluck 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  77 

At  what  seems  somehow  like  reality,  — -  a  soul^_ 

r  catch  at  this  and  that  to  capture  and  control  ; 
Presume  I  hold  a  prize  ;  discover  that  my  pains 
Are  run  to  nought ;    my  hands  are  balked  \  my  head 

regains 
The  surface,  where  I  breathe  and  look  about  a  space. 
The  soul  that  helped  me  mount  ?     Swallowed  up  in  the 

race 
O'  the  tide,  come  who  knows  whence,  gone  gayly  who 

knows  where  ! 
I  thought  the  prize  was  mine  ;  I  flattered  myself  diere. 
It  did  its  duty,  though  :  I  felt  it  j  it  felt  me  ;    ^^  /U>  l^''- 
Or  where  I  look  about  and  breathe  I  should  not  be. 
The  main  point  is,  the  false  fluidiU^  was  bound 
Acknowledge   that    it    frothed    o'er   substance    nowise 

found 
Fluid,  but  firm  and  true.     Man,  outcast,  "  howls,"  —  at 

rods  ?  — 
If  "  sent  in  playful  spray  a-shivering  to  his  gods  !  " 
Childishest  childe,  man  makes  thereby  no  bad  exchange. 
Stay  with  the  flat-fish,  thou !     We  like  the  upper  range 


78  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Where   the  "  gods "  live,  perchance   the    demons   also 

dwell, 
Where  operates  a  Power,  which  every  throb  and  swell 
Of  human  heart  invites  that  human  soul  approach, 
"  Sent"  near  and  nearer  still,  however  "spray  "  encro.ich 
On  "  shivering  "  flesh  below,  to  altitudes,  which  gained, 
Evil  proves  good,  wrong  right,  obscurity  explained, 
And  "  howling  "  childishness.     Whose  howl  have  we  to 

thank. 
If  all  the  dogs  'gan  bark,  and  puppies  whine,  till  sank 
Each  yelper's  tail  'twixt  legs  ?  for  Huntsman  Common- 
sense 
Came  to  the  rescue  ;  caused  prompt  thwack  of  thong 

dispense 
Quiet  i'  the  kennel ;  taught  that  ocean  might  be  blue, 
And  rolling,  and  much  more,   and  yet  the  soul  have, 

too. 
Its  touch  of  God's  own  flame,  which  he  may  so  expand 
"  Who  measured  the  waters  i'  the  hollow  of  his  hand," 
That  ocean's  self  shall  dry,  turn  dew-drop  in  respect 
Of  all-triumphant  fire,  matter  with  intellect 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  79 

Once  fairly  matched  ;  bade  him  who  egged  on  hounds  to 

bay- 
Go  curse  i'  the  poultry-yard  his  kind  :  "  there  let  him 

lay" 
The  swan's  one  addled  egg  ;  which  yet  shall  put  to  use, 
Rub  breast-bone  warm  against,  so  many  a  sterile  goose ! 

LXVIII. 

.  ■  -No,  I  want  sky,  not  sea ;  prefer  the  larks  to  shrimps  ; 
And  never  dive  so  'deep  but  that  I  get  a  glimpse 
O'  the  blue  above,  a  breath  of  the  air  around.     Elvire, 
I  seize  —  by  catching  at  that  melted  beryl  here, 
The  tawny  wavelet  just  has  trickled  off —  Fifine  ! 
Did  not  we  two  trip  forth  to  just  enjoy  the  scene,  — 
The  tumbling-troop  arrayed,  the  strollers  on  their  stage 
Drawn  up  and  under  arms,  and  ready  to  engage  ; 
Dabble,  and  there   an   end,  with  foam   and  froth  o'er 

face. 
Till  suddenly  Fifine  suggested  change  of  place  ? 
Now  we  taste  ether,  scorn  the  wave,  and  interchange 

apace 


8o  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

No  ordinary  thoughts,  but  such  as  evidence 
The  cultivated  mind  in  both  !     On  what  pretence 
Are  you  and  I  to  sneer  at  who  lent  help  to  hand, 
And  gave  the  lucky  lift  ? 

LXIX. 

Still  sour  ?     I  understand  ! 
One  ugly  circumstance  discredits  my  fair  plan, — 
That  woman    does    the   work  :    I    waive    the    help    of 

man. 
'J^jsj  ^  ;>»-^'  Why  should  experiment  be  tried  with  only  waves, 

When  solid  spars  float  round?      Still  some   Thalassia 

saves 
Too  pertinaciously,  as  though  no  Triton,  bluff 
As   e'er   blew   brine    from   conch,    were    free    to    help 

enough ! 
Surely,  to  recognize  a  man,  his  mates  serve  best ! 
Why  is  there  not  the  same  or  greater  interest 


o 


In  the  strong  spouse  as  in  the  pretty  partner,  pray  ? 
Were  recognition  just  your  object,  as  you  say, 
Amid  this  element  o'  the  false." 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  8 1 

LXX. 

We  come  to  terms. 
I  need  to  be  proved  true  ;  and  nothing  so  confirms 
One's  faith  in  the  prime  point  that  one's  ahve,  not  dead, 
In  all  descents  to  hell  whereof  I  ever  read, 
As  when  a  phantom  there,  male  enemy  or  friend, 
Or  merely  stranger-shade,  is  struck,  is  forced  suspend 
His   passage :    "  You   that   breathe,  along  with   us   the 

ghosts  ? " 
Here  why  must  it  still  be  a  woman  that  accosts  ? 

LXXI. 

Because    one   woman's  worth,   in  that   respect,  such 

hairy  hosts 
Of  the  other  sex  and  sort !     Men  ?     Say  you  have  the 

power 
To  make  them  yours,  rule  men,  throughout  life's  little 

hour. 
According   to   the   phrase ;    what   follows  ?      Men    you 

make, 
By  ruling  them,  your  own :  each  man  for  his  own  sake 

6 


82  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Accepts  you  as  his  guide,  avails  him  of  what  worth 

He  apprehends  in  you  to  sublimate  his  earth 

With    fire ;    content,    if    so   you    convoy   him   through 

night, 
That  you  shall  play  the  sun,  and  he,  the  satellite, 
Pilfer  your  light  and  heat  and  virtue,  starry  pelf. 
While,  caught  up  by  your  course,  he  turns  upon  him- 
self. 
Women  rush  into  you,  and  there  remain  absorbed. 
Beside,  'tis  only  men  completely  formed,  full-orbed. 
Are  fit  to  follow  track,  keep  pace,  illustrate  so 
The  leader  :  any  sort  of  woman  may  bestow 
Her  atom  on  the  star,  or  clod  she  counts  for  such ; 
Each  little  making  less  bigger  by  just  that  much. 
Women  grow  you,  while  men  depend  on  you  at  best 
'And^what   dependence !      Bring   and   put   him   to   the 

test. 
Your  specimen  disciple,  a  handbreadth  separate 
From  you,  he  almost  seemed  to  touch  before !     Abate 
Complacency  you  will,  I  judge,  at  what's  divulged  ! 
Some  flabbiness  you  fixed,  some  vacancy  out-bulged. 


\J^ 


\»    fcv 


J  kw-^ 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  8$ 

Some,  —  much, — nay,  all,  perhaps,  the  outward  man's 

your  work  ; 
But  inside  man  ?  —  find  him,  wherever  he  may  lurk, 
And  Where's  a  touch  of  you  in  his  true  self? 

LXXII. 

I  wish 
Some  wind  would  waft  this  way  a  glassy  bubble-fish 
O'  the  kind  the  sea  inflates,  and  show  you,  once   de- 
tached 
From    wave  —  or   no ;    the   event   is   better   told    than 

watched  : 
Still  may  the  thing  float  free,  globose  and  opaline 
All  over,  save  where  just  the  amethysts  combine 
To  blue  their  best,  rim-round  the  sea-flower  with  a  tinge 
Earth's  violet  never  knew  !    Well,  'neath  that  gem-tipped 

fringe 
A  head  lurks  — of  a  kind  —  that  acts  as  stomach  too  ; 
Then  comes  the  emptiness  which  out  the  water  blew 
So  big  and  belly-like,  but,  dry  of  water  drained, 
vVithers  away  nine-tenths.     Ah,  but  a  tenth  remained  ! 


84  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

That  was  the  creature's  self ;  no  more  akin  to  sea, 
Poor  rudimental  head  and  stomach,  you  agree, 
Than  sea's  akin  to  who  dips  yonder  his  red  edge. 

LXXIII. 

But  take  the  rillet,  ends  a  race  o'er  yonder  ledge 
O'  the  fissured  cliff,  to  find  its  fate  in  smoke  below ! 
Disengage  that,  and  ask  —  what  news  of  life,  you  know 
It  led,  that  long  lone  way,  through  pasture,  plain,  and 

waste  ? 
All's  gone  to  give  the  sea !  no  touch  of  earth,  no  taste 
Of  air,  reserved  to  tell  how  rushes  used  to  bring 
The  butterfly  and  bee,  and  fisher-bird  that's  king 
O'  the  purple  kind,  about  the  snow-soft,  silver-sweet 
Infant  of  mist  and  dew  ;  only  these  atoms  fleet, 
Imbittered  evermore,  to  make  the  sea  one  drop 
More  big  thereby, —  if  thought  keep  count  where  sense 
must  stop. 

LXXIV. 

The  full-blown  ingrate,  mere  recipient  of  the  brine. 
That  takes  all,  and  gives  nought,  is  man  :  the  feminine 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  85 

Rillet,  that  taking  all,  and  giving  nought  in  turn, 
Goes  headlong  to  her  death  i'  the  sea,  without  concern 
For  the  old  inland  life,  snow-soft  and  silver-clear, — 
That's  woman,  typified  from  Fifine  to  Elvire. 

LXXV. 

Then    how   diverse    the    modes    prescribed   to   who 
would  deal 
With  either  kind  of  creature  !    'Tis  man  you  seek  to  seal 
Your  very  own  ?     Resolve,  for  first  step,  to  discard 
Nine-tenths  of  what  you  are !     To  make,  you  must  be 
!  marred; 

To  raise  your  race,  must  stoop ;  to  teach  them  aught, 

must  learn 
Ignorance,  meet  half  way  what  most  you  hope  to  spurn 
I'  the  sequel.     Change  yourself,  dissimulate  the  thought 
And  vulgarize  the  word,  and  see  the  deed  be  brought 
To  look  like  nothing  done  with  any  such  intent 
As  teach  men,  —  though  perchance  it  teach  by  accident ! 
So  may  you  master  men ;  assured  that  if  you  show 
One  point  of  mastery,  departure  from  the  low 


J-L 


86  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

And  level,  —  head  or  heart  revolt  at  long  disguise, 
Inimurementj  stifling  soul  in  mediocrities,  — 
If  inadvertently  a  gesture,  much  more,  word. 
Reveal  the  hunter  no  companion  for  the  herd, 
i  His  chance  of  capture's  gone.    Success  means,  they  may 

snuff. 
Examine,  and  report,  —  a  brother,  sure  enough, 
Disports  him  in  brute-guise ;  for  skin  is  truly  skin. 
Horns,  hoofs,  are  hoofs  and  horns,  and  all,  outside  and 

in, 
Is  veritable  beast,  whom  fellow-beasts  resigned 
May  follow,  made  a  prize  in  honest  pride,  behind 
One  of  themselves,  and  not  creation's  upstart  lord  ! 
Well,  there's  your  prize  i'  the  pound  :  much  joy  may  it 

afford 
My  Indian !     Make  surv^ey,  and  tell  me,  —  was  it  worth 
You  acted  part  so  well,  went  all-fours  upon  on  earth 
The  live-long  day,  brayed,  belled,  and  all  to  bring   to 

pass 
That  stags  should  deign  eat  hay  when  winter  stints  them 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  87 

LXXVI. 

So  much  for  men,  and  how  disguise  may  make  them 

mind 
Their  master.     But  you  have  to  deal  with  womankind  ?  « 

Abandon  stratagem  for  strategy  ;  cast  quite  t 

The  vile  disguise  away ;  Xxy  truth  clean-opposite 
Such  creep-and-crawl ;  stand  forth  all  man,  and,  might  it 

chance, 
Somewhat  of  angel  too  !  —  whate'er  inheritance, 
Actual  on  earth,  in  heaven  prospective,  be  your  boast, 
Lay  claim  to  !     Your  best  self  revealed  at  uttermost  — 
That's  the  wise  way  o'  the  strong !     And,  e'en  should 

falsehood  tempt 
The  weaker  sort  to  swerve,  at  least  the  lie's  exempt 
From  slur,  that's  loathlier  still,  of  aiming  to  debase 
Rather  than  elevate  its  object.     Mimic  grace. 
Not  make  deformity  your  mask  !     Be  sick  by  stealth. 
Nor  traffic  with  disease,  —  malingering  in  health  ! 
No  more  of — "  Countr}'men,  I  boast  me  one  like  you, — 
My  lot,  the  common  strength,  the  common  weakness   Jijt4.dU. 

too!_  c^9k- 


88  FIFINE  AT  THE   FAIR. 

I   think  the  thoughts   you   think ;     and   if   I    have    the 

knack 
Of  fitting  thoughts  to  words,  you  peradventure  lack. 
Envy  me  not  the  chance,  yourselves  more  fortunate  ! 
Many  the  loaded  ship  self-sunk  through  treasure-freight ; 
Many  the  pregnant  brain  brings  never  child  to  birth  ; 
Many  the  great  heart  bursts  beneath  its  girdle-girth  ! 
Be  mine  the  privilege  to  supplement  defect, 
Give  dumbness  voice,  and  let  the  laboring  intellect 
Find  utterance  in  word,  or  possibly  in  deed  ! 
What  though  I  seem  to  go  before  ?  'us  you  that  lead  ! 
I  follow  what  I  see  so  plain,  —  the  general  mind 
Projected  pillar-wise,  flame  kindled  by  the  kind, 
Which  dwarfs  the  unit  —  me  —  to  insignificance  ! 
Halt  you,  I  stop  forthwith  ;  proceed,  I  too  advance  !  " 

LXXVII. 

Ay,  that's  the  way  to  take  with  men  you  wish  to  lead, 
Instruct,  and  benefit.     Small  prospect  you  succeed 
With  women  so  !     Be  all  that's  great  and  good  and  wise, 
August,  sublime  ;  swell  out  your  frog  the  right  ox-size  : 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  bp 

He's  buoyed  like  a  balloon^  to  soar,  not   burst,  you'll 

see  ! 
The  more  you  prove  yourself,  less  fear  the  prize  will  flee 
The  captor.     Here  you  start  after  no  pompous  stag 
Who  condescends  be  snared,  with  toss  of  horn,  and  brag 
Of  bray,  and  ramp  of  hoof ;  you  have  not  to  subdue 
The  foe  through  letting  him  imagine  he  snares  you  : 
'Tis  rather  with  — 

LXXVIII. 


dipping  disk 


Ah,  thanks!    quick!  —  where    the 


Shows  red  against  the  rise  and  fall  o'  the  fin  !  there  frisk 
In  shoal   the  —  porpoises  ?     Dolphins,  they  shall    and 

must 
Cut   through   the   freshening    clear;    dolphins,   my   in- 
stance just ! 
'Tis  fable,  therefore  truth :  who  has  to  do  with  these 
Needs  never  practise  trick  of  going  hands  and  knees 
As  beasts  require.     Art  fain  the  fish  to  captivate  ? 
Gather  thy  greatness  round,  Arion  !     Stand  in  state, 


k 


90  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

As  when  the  banqueting  thrilled  conscious,  —  like  a  rose 
Throughout   its   hundred   leaves    at   that    approacli    it 

knows 
Of  music  in  the  bird,  —  while  Corinth  grew  one  breast 
A-throb  for  song  and  thee  ;  nay,  Periander  pressed 
The   Methymnaean  hand,  and  felt  a  king  indeed,  and 

guessed 
How  Phcebus'  self  might  give  that  great  mouth  of  the 

gods 
Such  a  magnificence  of  song  !     The  pillar  nods, 
Rocks  roof,  and  trembles  door,  gigantic,  post  and  jamb. 
As  harp  and  voice  rend  air,  —  the  shattering  dithyramb  ! 
So  stand  thou,  and  assume  the  robe  that  tingles  yet 
With  triumph ;  strike  the  harp,  whose  every  golden  fret 
Still  smoulders  with  the  flame  was  late  at  finger's  end  : 
So,  standing  on  the  bench  o'  the  ship,  let  voice  expend 
Thy  soul  ;  sing,  unalloyed  by  meaner  mode,  thine  own, 
The  Orthian  lay  ;  then  leap  from  Music's  lofty  throne 
Into  the  lowest  surge,  make  fearlessly  thy  launch  ! 
Whatever   storm    may   threat,   some    dolphin   will    be 

stanch  ! 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  91 

\  Whatever  roughness  rage,  some  exquisite  sea-thing 
Will  surelyjise  to  save,  will  bear  —  palpitating  — 
One  proud  humility  of  love  beneath  its  load. 
Stem  tide,  part  wave,  till  both  roll  on,  thy  jewelled  road 
Of  triumph,  and   the   grim   o'  the   gulf  grow  wonder- 
white 
I'  the  phosphorescent  wake ;  and  still  the  exquisite 
Sea-thing  stems  on,  saves  still,  palpitatingly  thus, 
Lands  safe  at  length  its  love  of  load  at  Taenarus, 
True  woman-creature  ! 

LXXIX. 

Man  ?     Ah !  would  you  prove  what  power 
Marks  man  ;  what  fruit  his  tree  may  yield  beyond  the 

sour 
And  stinted  crab  he  calls  love-apple,  which  remains 
After  you  toil  and  moil  your  utmost,  —  all,  love  gains 
By  lavishing  manure  ?  —  try  quite  the  other  plan  ! 
A.nd,  to  obtain  the  strong  true  product  of  a  man, 
Set  him  to  hate  a  little !     Leave  cherishing  his  root, 
And  rather  prune  his  branch,  nip  off  the  pettiest  shoot 
^  ■  ' 


% 


\CVVrf 


92  FIFINE  AT   THE  FAIR. 

Superfluous  on  his  bough  !     I  promise,  you  shall  learn 
By  what  grace  came  the  goat,  of   all    beasts   else,   to 

earn 
Such  favor  with  the  god  o'  the  grape  :  'twas  only  he 
Who,  browsing  on  its  tops,  first  stung  fertility 
Into  the  stock's  heart,  stayed  much  growth  of  tendril- 
twine, 
Some  faintish  flower,  perhaps,  but  gained  the  indignant 

wine, 
Wrath  of   the   red  press  !      Catch  the  puniest  of  the 

kind, — 
Man-animalcule,  starved  body,  stunted  mind,  — 
And,  as  you  nip  the  blotch   'twixt  thumb  and  finger- 
nail, 
Admire  how  heaven  above  and  earth  below  avail 
No  jot  to  soothe  the  mite,  sore  at  God's  prime  offence 
In  making  mites  at  all ;  coax  from  its  impotence 
One  virile  drop  of  thought  or  word  or  deed,  by  strain 
To  propagate  for  once,  — which  nature  rendered  vain, 
Who  lets  first  failure  stay,  yet  cares  not  to  record 
Mistake  that  seems  to  cast  opprobrium  on  the  Lord  ! 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  93 

Such  were  the  gain  from  love's  best  pains  !     But  let  the 

elf 
Be  touched  with  hate  because  some  real  man  bears  him- 
self 
Manlike  in  body  and  soul,   and,  since  he   lives,  must 

thwart 
And  furify  and  set  a-fizz  this  counterpart 
O'  the  pismire  that's  surprised  to  effervescence,  if, 
By  chance,  black  bottle  come  in  contact  with  chalk  cliff. 
Acid  with  alkali !     Then  thrice  the  bulk  out  blows 
Our  insect,  does  its  kind,  and  cuckoo-spits  some  rose  ! 


LXXX. 

No  :  'tis  ungainly  work,  the  ruling  men,  at  best ! 
The  graceful    instinct's   right :    'tis   women    stand   con- 
fessed 
Auxiliaiy,  the  gain  that  never  goes  away, 
Takes  nothing,  and  gives  all :  Elvire,  Fifine,  'tis  they 
Convince,  —  if  little,  much,  no  matter  !  —  one  degree 
The  more,  at  least,  convince  unreasonable  me 


/ 


94  FIFINE  AT  THE   FAIR. 

That  I  am,  anyhow,  a  truth,  though  all  else  seem 
And  be  not :  if  I  dream,  at  least  I  know  I  dream. 
The  falsity,  beside,  is  fleeting :  I  can  stand 
Still,  and  let  truth  come  back,  —  your  steadying  touch 

of  hand 
Assists  me  to  remain  self-centred,  fixed  amid 
All  on  the  move.     Believe  in  me,  at  once  you  bid 
Myself  believe,  that,  since  one  soul  has  disengaged 
Mine  from  the  shows  of  things,  so  much  is  fact :  I  waged  _ 
No  foolish  warfare,  then,  with  shades,  myself  a  shade, 
Here  in  the  world  ;  may  hope  my  pains  will  be  repaid ! 
How  false  things  are,  I  judge  ;  how  changeable,  I  learn  : 
When,  where,  and  how  it  is  I  shall  see  truth  return, 
That  I  expect  to  know,  because  Fifine  knows  me  ! 
How  much  more,  if  Elvire  ! 

LXXXI.  '      ._^J 

"  And  why  not,  only  she  ?  Ttv/  )ff 
Since  there  can  be  for  each  one  Best,  no  more,  such 

Best, 
For  body  and  mind  of  him,  abolishes  the  rest 


y^ 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  95 

O'  the  simply  Good  and   Better.      You   please   select 

Elvire 
To  give  you  this  belief  in  truth ;  dispel  the  fear 
Yourself  are,  after  all,  as  false  as  what  surrounds  ; 
And  why  not  be  content  ?     When  we  two  watched   the 

rounds 
The  boatman  made  'twixt  shoal  and  sandbank  yesterday, 
As,  at  dead  slack  of  tide,  he  chose  to  push  his  way 
With  oar  and  pole  across  the  creek,  and  reach  the  isle 
After  a  world  of  pains,  my  word  provoked  your  smile. 
Yet  none  the  less  deserved  reply  :  '  'Twere  wiser  wait 
The    turn    o'    the    tide,    and    find    conveyance    for    his 

freight  — 
How  easily  —  within  the  ship  to  purpose  moored. 
Managed   by   sails,    not    oars !       But   no  :    the    man's 

allured 
By  liking  for  the  new  and  hard  in  his  exploit ! 
First  come  shall  serve  !     He  makes  —  courageous  and 

adroit  — 
The  merest  willow-leaf  of  boat  do  duty,  bear 
His  merchandise  across  :  once  over,  needs  he  care 


96  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

If  folk  arrive  b}-  ship  six  hours  hence,  fresh  and  gay  ? ' 
No  :  he  scorns  commonplace ;  affects  the  unusual  way ; 
And  good  Elvire  is  moored,  with  not  a  breath  to  flap 
The  yards  of  her ;  no  lift  of  ripple  to  o'erlap 
Keel,  much   less    prow.      What  care?    since   here's    a 

cockle-shell, 
Fifine,  that's  taut  and  crank,  and  carries  just  as  well 
Such  seamanship  as  yours  !  " 

LXXXII. 

-    ■ ' '"  ■  Alack,  our  life  is  lent, 

From  first  to  last,  the  whole,  for  this  experiment 
Of  proving  what  I  say,  —  that  we  ourselves  are  true  ! 
I  would  there  were  one  voyage,  and  then  no  more  to  do 
But  tread  the  firm  land,  tempt  the  uncertain  sea  no  more  ! 
I  would  we  might  dispense  with  change  of  shore  for 

shore 
To  evidence  our  skill,  demonstrate  —  in  no  dream 
It  was  we  tided  o'er  the  trouble  of  the  stream ! 
I  would  the  steady  voyage,  and  not  the  fitful  trip,  — 
Elvire,  and  not  Fifine,  —  might  test  our  seamanship  ! 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  97 

But  why  expend  one's  breath  to  tell  you  change  of  boat 
Means   change   of  tactics  too?      Come    see   the    same 

afloat 
1  o-morrow,  all  the  change,  new  stowage  fore  and  aft 
O'  the  cargo ;  then  to  cross  requires  new  sailor-craft ! 
To-day  one  step  from  stern  to  bow  keeps  boat  in  trim  : 
To-morrow  some  big  stone  —  or  woe  to  boat  and  him  !  — 
Must  ballast   both.     That   man   stands   for  Mind,  para- 
mount 
Throughout    the    adventure :     ay,    howe'er    you   make 

account, 
'Tis  mind  that  navigates ;  skips  over,  twists  between 
The  bales  i'  the  boat;    now  gives  importance   to   the 

mean, 
And  now  abates  the  pride  of  life,  accepts  all  fact, 
Discards  all  fiction  ;  steers  Fifine,  and  cries,  in  the  act, 
"  Thou  art  so  bad,  and  yet  so  delicate  a  brown  ! 
Wouldst  tell  no  end  of  lies  :  I  talk  to  smile  or  frown  ! 
Wouldst  rob  me  :    do  men  blame  a  squirrel,  lithe  and 

sly, 
For  pilfering  the  nut  she  adds  to  hoard  ?     Nor  I. 

7 


98  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Elvire  is  true  as  truth,  honesty's  self,  alack  ! 

The  worse !   too  safe  the  ship,  the  transport  there  and 

back 
Too  certain !   one  may  loll  and  lounge  and  leave  the 

helm, 
Let  wind  and  tide  do  work  :   no  fear  that  waves  o'er- 

whelm 
The  steady-going  bark,  as  sure  to  feel  her  way 
Blind-fold  across,  reach  land,  next  year  as  yesterday ! 
How  can  I  but  suspect  the  true  feat  were  to  slip 
Down  side,  transfer  myself  to  cockle-shell  from  ship, 
And  try  if,  trusting  to  sea-tracklessness,  I  class 
With  those  around  whose  breast  grew  oak  and  triple 

brass ; 
Who  dreaded  no  degree  of  death,  but  with  dry  eyes 
Surveyed  the  turgid  main  and  its  monstrosities. 
And  rendered  futile,  so,  the  prudent  Power's  decree 
Of  separate  earth  and  disassociating  sea? 
Since  how  is  it  observed,  if  impious  vessels  leap 
Across,  and  tempt  a  thing  they  should  not  touch,  —  the 

deep? 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  99 

(See  Horace  to  the  boat,  wherein,  for  Athens  bound, 
When  Virgil  must  embark  —  Jove  keep  him   safe  and 

sound  !  — 
The  poet  bade  his  friend  start  on  the  water}-  road, 
Much  re-assured  by  this  so  comfortable  ode.") 

LXXXIII. 

Then  never  grudge  my  poor  Fifine  her  compliment ! 
The  rakish  craft  could  slip  her  moorings  in  the  tent, 
And,  hoisting  ever}'  stitch  of  spangled  canvas,  steer 
Through  divers  rocks  and  shoals  ;  in  fine,  deposit  here 
Your  Virgil  of  a  spouse  in  Attica  ;  yea,  thrid 
The  mob  of  men,  select  the  special  virtue  hid 
In  him,  forsooth,  and  say,  or  rather  smile  so  sweet, 
"  Of  all  the  multitude,  you  —  I  prefer  to  cheat ! 
Are  you  for  Athens  bound  ?     I  can  perform  the  trip, 
Shove  little  pinnace  off,  while  yon  superior  ship. 
The  Elvire,  refits  in  port !  "    So  off  we  push  from  beach 
Of  Pornic  Town  :  and  lo,  ere  eye  can  wink,  we  reach 
The  Long  Walls,  and  I  prove  that  Athens  is  no  dream  ; 
For  there  the  temples  rise  !  they  are  ;  they  nowise  seem  \ 


lOO  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Earth  is  not  all  one  lie,  this  truth  attests  me  true  ! 
Thanks,   therefore,  to    Fifine !     Elvire,   I'm   back    with 

you ! 
Share  in  the  memories  !     Embark  I  trust  we  shall 
Together  some  fine  day,  and  so,  for  good  and  all, 
Bid  Pornic  Town  adieu  ;  then  just  the  strait  to  cross, 
And  we  reach  harbor,  safe,  in  lostephanos ! 

LXXXIV. 

How   quickly   night   comes !      Lo !    already   'tis    the 
land 
Turns  sea-like  :  overcrept  by  gray,  the  plains  expand, 
Assume  significance  ;  while  ocean  dwindles,  shrinks 
Into  a  pettier  bound  :  its  plash  and  plaint,  methinks, 
Six  steps  away,  how  both  retire,  as  if  their  part 
Were  played,  another  force  were  free  to  prove  her  art, 

Protagonist  in  turn  !      Are  you  unterrified  ? 

All  false,  all  fleeting  too!     And  nowhere  things  abide. 
And  everywhere  we  strain  that  things  should  stay,  —  the 

one 
Truth,  that  ourselves  are  true  ( 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAlR.  ic^T 

LXXXV. 

A  word,  and  I  have  done. 
Is  it  not  just  our  hate  of  falsehood,  fleetingness, 
And  the  mere  part  things  play,  that  constitutes  express 
Tlie  inmost  charm  of  this  Fifine  and  all  her  tribe  ? 
Actors  !     We  also  act ;  but  only  they  inscribe 
Their  style  and  title  so,  and  preface  —  only  they  — 
Performance  with,  "A  lie  is  all  we  do  or  say." 
Wherein  but  there  can  be   the  attraction.  Falsehood's 

bribe. 
That  wins  so  surely  o'er  to  Fifine  and  her  tribe 
The  liking,  nay,  the  love,  of  who  hate  Falsehood  most, 
Except  that  these  alone  of  mankind  make  their  boast, 
"  Frankly,  we  simulate!"      To  feign  means  —  to  have 

grace, 
And  so  get  gratitude  !     This  ruler  of  the  race, 
Crowned,  sceptred,  stoled  to  suit,  —  'tis  not  that  you 

detect 
The  cobbler  in  the  king,  but  that  he  makes  effect 
By  seeming  the  reverse  of  what  you  know  to  be 
The  man,  the  mind,  whole  form,  fashion,  and  quality. 


TC2^  FliFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Mistake  his  false  for  true  one  minute,  —  there's  an  end 
Of  the  admiration  !     Truth  we  grieve  at  or  rejoice  : 
'Tis  only  falsehood,  plain  in  gesture,  look,  and  voice, 
That   brings    the    praise    desired,    since    profit    comes 

thereby. 
The  histrionic  truth  is  in  the  natural  lie. 
Because  the  man  who  wept  the  tears  was,  all  the  time, 
Happy  enough ;  because  the  other  man,  a-grime 
With  guilt,  was,  at  the  least,  as  white  as  I  and  you  ; 
Because  the  timid  type  of  bashful  maidhood,  who 
Starts  at  her  own  pure  shade,  already  numbers  seven 
Born  babes,  and  in  a  month  will  turn  their  odd  to  even  ; 
Because  the  saucy  prince  would  prove,  could  you  unfurl 
Some  yards  of  wrap,  a  meek  and  meritorious  girl,  — 
Precisely  as  you  see  success  attained  by  each 
O'  the  mimes,  do  you  approve,  not  foolishly  impeach 
The  falsehood ! 

LXXXVI. 

That's  the  first  o'  the  truths  found :  all  things,  slow 
Or  quick  i'  the  passage,  come  at  last  to  that,  you  know  ! 


FIFIXE  AT  THE  FAIR.  1 03 

Each  has  a  false  outside,  whereby  a  truth  is  forced 
To  issue  from  within :  truth,  falsehood,  are  divorced 
By  the  excepted  eye,  at  the  rare  season,  for 
The  happy  moment.    Lifejneans  —  learning  to  abhor 
The  false,  and  love  the  true,  —  truth  treasured  snatch  by 

snatch, 
Waifs  counted  at  their  worth.     And  when  with  strays 

they  match 
I'  the  party-colored  world;  when  under  foul  shines  fair, 
And  truth,  displayed  i'  the  point,  flashes  forth  every- 
where 
I'  the  circle,  manifest  to  soul,  though  hid  from  sense, 
And  no  obstruction  more  affects  this  confidence ; 
When  faith  is  ripe  for  sight,  —  why,  reasonably,  then 
Comes  the  great  clearing-up.    Wait  threescore  years  and 
ten! 

LXXXVII. 

Therefore  I  prize   stage-play,    the    honest   cheating ; 
thence 

The   impulse  pricked,  when  fife  and   drum  bade  Fair 
commence, 


ro4  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

To  bid  you  trip  and  skip,  link  arm  in  arm  with  me, 
Like  husband  and  like  wife,  and  so  together  see 
The  tumbling-troop  arrayed,  the  strollers  on  their  stage 
Drawn  up  and  under  arms,  and  ready  to  engage. 
And  if  I  started  thence  upon  abstruser  themes — 
Well,  'twas  a  dream,  pricked  too  ! 

LXXXVIII. 

A  poet  never  dreams  : 
We  prose-folk  always  do :  we  miss  the  proper  duct 
For  thoughts    on    things   unseen,    which    stagnate    and 

obstruct 
The  system,  therefore  :  mind,  sound  in  a  body  sane. 
Keeps  thoughts  apart   from  facts,  and  to   one  flowing 

vein 
Confines  its  sense  of  that  which  is  not,  but  might  be. 
And  leaves  the  rest  alone.     What  ghosts  do  poets  see  ? 
What  demons  fear?  what  man  or  thing  misapprehend? 
Unchoked,  the  channel's  flush,  the  fancy's  free  to  spend 
Its  special  self  aright  in  manner,  time,  and  place. 
Never  believe  that  who  create  the  busy  race 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  105 

O'  the  brain,  bring  poetry  to  birth,  such  act  performed, 
Feel  trouble  them,  the  same,  such  residue  as  warmed 
My  prosy  blood  this  morn,  —  intrusive  fancies,  meant 
For  outbreak  and  escape  by  quite  another  vent ! 
Whence  follows,  that,  asleep,  my  dreamings  oft  exceed 
The  bound.     But  you  shall  hear. 

LXXXIX. 

I  smoked.     The  webs  o'  the  weed, 
With  many  a  break  i'  the  mesh,  were  floating  to  re-form 
Cupola-wise  above  ;  chased  thither  by  soft,  warm 
Inflow  of  air  without ;   since  I,  —  of  mind  to  muse,  to 

clench 
The    gain    of    soul    and    body   got    by   their    noon-day 

drench 
In  sun   and  sea,  —  I   flung  both   frames   o'  the  window 

wide. 
To  soak  my  body  still,  and  let  soul  soar  beside. 
In  came  the   country  sounds  and  sights  and  smells, — 

that  fine 
Sharp  needle  in  the  nose  from  our  fermenting  wine  ! 


I 


Io6  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

In  came  a  dragon-fly  with  whir  and  stir,  then  out, 
Off,  and  away ;  in  came  —  kept  coming,  rather,  pout 
Succeeding  smile,  and  take-away  still  close  on  give  — 
One  loose  long  creeper-branch,  tremblingly  sensitive 
To  risk,  which  blooms  and  leaves,  —  each  leaf  tongue- 
broad,  each  bloom 
Mid-finger-deep,  —  must  run  by  prying  in  the  room 
Of  one  who  loves  and  grasps  and  spoils  and  speculates. 
All,   so   far,  plain    enough   to   sight    and    sense :    but 

weights, 
Measures,  and  numbers,  —  ah !   could   one  apply  such 

test 
To  other  visitants  that  came  at  no  request 
Of  who  kept  open  house ;  to  fancies  manifold 
From  this  four-cornered  world,  the  memories   new  and 

old, 
The  antenatal  prime  experience  —  what  know  I  ?  — 
The  initiatory  love  preparing  us  to  die,  — 
Such  were  a  crowd  to  count,  a  sight  to  see,  a  prize 
To  turn  to  profit,  were  but  fleshly  ears  and  eyes 
A-ble  to  cope  with  those  o'  the  spirit  ! 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  lO? 

XC. 

Therefore,  —  since 
Thought  hankers  after  speech,  while   no    speech    may 

evince 
Feeling  like  music,  —  mine,  o'erburthened  with  each  gift 
From  every  visitant,  at  last  resolved  to  shift 
Its  burthen  to  the  back  of  some  musician  dead 
And  gone,  who,  feeling  once  what  I  feel  now,  instead 
Of  words,  sought  sounds,  and  saved  forever,  in  the  same, 
Truth  that  escapes  prose ;  nay,  puts  poetry  to  shame. 
One  reads  the  note^  one  strikes  the  key,  one  bids  record 
The  instrument,  —  thanks  for  the  veritable  word  ! 
And  not  in  vain  one  cries,  "  O  dead  and  gone  away. 
Assist  who  struggles  yet,  thy  strength  become  my  stay. 
Thy  record  serve  as  well  to  register,  —  I  felt 
And  knew  thus  much  of  truth  !     With  me  must  knowl- 
edge melt 
Into  surmise  and  doubt  and  disbelief,  unless 
Thy  music  re-assure, — I  gave  no  idle  guess, 
But  gained  a  certitude  myself  may  hardly  keep  ! 
'Vhat  care  ?  since  round  is  piled  a  monumental  heap 


io8  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Of  music  that  conserves  the  assurance  thou  as  well 
Wast  certain  of  the  same  !  —  thou,  master  of  the  spell, 
Mad'st  moonbeams  marble,  didst  record  what  other  men 
Feel  only  to  forget!"     Who  was  it  helped  me,  then  ? 
What  master's  work  first  came  responsive  to  my  call, 
Found  my  eye,  fixed  my  choice  ? 

xci. 
Why,  Schumann's  "  Carnival  "  ! 
Choice  chiming  in,  you  see,  exactly  with  the  sounds 
And  sights  of  yester-eve,  when,  going  on  my  rounds. 
Where  both  roads  join  the  bridge,  I  heard  across  the 

dusk 
Creak  a  slow  caravan,  and  saw  arrive  the  husk 
O'  the  spice-nut,  which  peeled  off  this  morning,  and  dis- 
played 
'Twixt  tree  and  tree  a   tent  whence   the    red   pennon 

made 
Its  vivid  reach  for  home  and  ocean-idleness, 
A-nd  where,  my  heart  surmised,  at  that  same  moment,  — • 
yes,— 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  109 

Tugging  her  tricot  on,  yet  tenderly,  lest  stitch 
Announce  the  crack  of  doom,  reveal  disaster  which 
Our  Pornic's  modest  stock  of  merceries  in  vain 
Were  ransacked  to  retrieve,  —  there,  cautiously  a-strain, 
(My  heart  surmised)  must  crouch  in  that  tent's  corner, 

curved 
Like    spring-month's   russet    moon,    some    beauty   fate 

reserved 
To  give  me  once  again  the  electric  snap  and  spark 
That  prove,  when  finger  finds  out  finger  in  the  dark 
O'  the  world^  there's  fire  and  life  and  truth  there,  link 

but  hands. 
And  pass  the  secret  on  !  till,  link  by  link,  expands 
The  circle,  lengthens  out  the  chain  ;  and  one  embrace 
Of  high  with  low  is  found  uniting  the  whole  race,  — 
Not  simply  you  and  me  and  our  Fifine,  but  all 
The  world  :  the  Fair  expands  into  the  Carnival, 
And  Carnival  again  to  —     Ah,  but  that's  my  dream  ! 

XCII. 

r  somehow  played  the  piece ;  remarked  on  each  old 
theme 


no  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

V  the  new  dress ;   saw  how  food  o'  the  soul,  the  stuff 

that's  made 
To  furnish  man  with  thought  and  feeling,  is  purveyed 
Substantially  the  same  from  age  to  age,  with  change 
Of  the  outside  only  for  successive  feasters.     Range 
The  banquet-room  o'  the  world,  from  the  dim  farthest 

head 
O'  the  table  to  its  foot,  for  you  and  me  bespread 
This  merry  morn,  we  find  sufficient  fare,  I  trow. 
But  novel  ?     Scrape  away  the  sauce,  and  taste,  below, 
The  verity  o'  the  viand,  you  shall  perceive  there  went 
To  board-head  just  the  dish  which  other  condiment 
Makes  palatable  now :  guests  came,  sat  down,  fell  to. 
Rose  up,  wiped  mouth,  went  way,  —  lived,  died,  —  and 

never  knew 
That  generations  yet  should,  seeking  sustenance, 
Still  find  the  selfsame  fare,  with  somewhat  to  enhance 
Its  flavor  in  the  kind  of  cooking.     As  with  hates 
And  loves  and  fears  and  hopes,  so  with  what  emulates 
The  same,  expresses  hates,  loves,  fears,  and  hopes  in  arf 
The  forms,  the  themes,  —  no  one  without  its  counterpart 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  HI 

Ages  ago ;  no  one,  but,  mumbled  the  due  time 
r  the  mouth  of  the  eater,  needs  be   cooked   again   in 
rhyme, 

Dished   up    anew   in   paint,    sauce-smothered   fresh    in 

sound, 
To  suit  the  wisdom-tooth,  just  cut,  of   the  age,  that's 

found 
With  gums  obtuse  to  gust  and  smack  which  rehshed  so 
The  meat  o'  the  meal  folks  made  some  fifty  years  ago. 
But  don't  suppose  the  new  was  able  to  efface 
The  old  without   a   struggle,  a   pang !     The   common- 
place 
Still  clung  about  his  heart  long  after  all  the  rest 
O'  the  natural  man,  at  eye  and  ear,  was  caught,  con- 
fessed 
The  charm  of  change,  although  wry  lip   and  wrinkled 

nose 
Owned  ancient  virtue  more  conducive  to  repose 
Than  modern   nothing  roused  to   something  by  some 

shred 
Of  pungency,  perchance  garlic  in  amber's  stead  ? 


112  FIFINE  AT  THE   FAIR. 

And  so  on,  till,  one  day,  another  age,  by  due 

Rotation,  pries,  sniffs,  smacks,  discovers  oldjs  new, 

And  sauce  our  sires  pronounced  insipid  proves  again 

Sole  piquant,  and  resumes  its  titillating  reign. 

With  music,  most  of  all  the  arts,  since  change  is  there 

The  law,  and  not  the  lapse  :  the  precious  means  the  rate. 

And  not  the  absolute  in  all  good  save  surprise. 

So  I  remarked  upon  our  Schumann's  victories 

Over  the_commonplace,  how  flided  phrase  grew  fine, 

And  palled  perfection,  piqued,  upstartled  by  that  brine, 

His  pickle,  bit  the  mouth  and  burnt  the  tongue  aright; 

Beyond  the  merely  good  no  longer  exquisite  ; 

Then  took  things  as  I  found,  and  thanked  without  demur 

The  pretty  piece,  —  played  through  that  movement,  you 

prefer. 
Where  dance  and  shuffle  past,  he  scolding  while  she 

pouts. 
She  canting  while  he  calms,  in  those  eternal  bouts 
Of   age,    the    dog  —  with    youth,    the    cat  —  by   rose- 
festoon 
Tied  teasingly  forever,  —  Columbine,  Pantaloon, 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  113 

She,  toe-tips  and  staccato,  —  legato,  shakes  his  poll 
And  shambles  in  pursuit,  the  senior.     Fi  la  folic  / 
Lie  to  him  !  get  his  gold,  and  pay  its  price  !  begin 
Your  trade  betimes,  nor  wait  till  you've  wed  Harlequin, 
And  need,  at  the  week's  end,  to  play  the  duteous  wife, 
And  swear  you  still  love  slaps  and  leapings  more  than 

life! 
Pretty !  I  say. 

XCIII. 

And  so  I  somehow-nohow  played 
The  whole   o'  the  pretty  piece;   and   then  —  whatever 

weighed 
My  eyes  down,  furled  the  films  about  my  wits,  —  sup- 
pose. 
The  morning-bath,  —  the  sweet  monotony  of  those 
Three  keys,  flat,  flat  and  flat,  never  a  sharp  at  all ; 
Or  else  the  brain's  fatigue,  forced  even  here  to  fall 
Into  the  same  old  track,  and  recognize  the  shift 
From  old  to  new,  and  back  to  old  again,  and,  swift 
Or  slow,  no  matter,  still  the  certainty  of  change. 
Conviction  we  shall  find  the  false,  where'er  we  range. 


114  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

In   art  no   less    than    nature,  —  or  what  if  wrist  were 

numb, 
And  over-tense  the  mucle,  abductor  of  the  thumb, 

A 

Taxed   by  those  tenths'    and    twelfths'    unconscionable 

stretch  ? 
Howe'er  it  came  to  pass,  I  soon  was  far  to  fetch,  — 
Gone  off  in  company  with  Music  ! 

xciv. 

Whither  bound 
Except  for  Venice  ?     She  it  was,  by  instinct  found. 
Carnival-country  proper,  who,  far  below  the  perch 
Where    I   was    pinnacled,    showed,    opposite,    Mark's 

Church, 
And,  underneath,  Mark's  Square,  with  those  two  lines 

of  street, 
Procu>'atie-s\des,  each  leading  to  my  feet ; 
Since  I  gazed  from  above,  however  I  got  there. 

xcv. 
And  what  I  gazed  upon  was  a  prodigious  Fair, 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  II5 

Concourse  immense  of  men   and  women,  crowned   oi 

casqued, 
Turbaned  or  tiar'd,  wreathed,  plumed,  hatted  or  wigged, 

but  masked,  — 
Always  masked,  —  only,  how?      No   face-shape,  beast 

or  bird. 
Nay,  fish  and  reptile  even,  but  some  one  had  preferred, 
From  out  its  frojitispiece,  feathered  or  scaled  or  curled, 
To  make  the  vizard  whence  himself  should  view  the 

world. 
And  where  the  world  believed  himself  was  manifest. 
Yet,  when   you   came   to   look,  mixed   up    among   the 

rest 
]\Iore  funnily  by  far  were  masks  to  imitate 
Humanity's  mishap  :  the  wrinkled  brow,  bald  pate, 
And  rheumy  eyes  of  Age,  peaked  chin  and  parchment 

chap. 
Were  signs  of  day-work  done,  and  wage-time  near, — ■ 

mishap 
Merely ;  but  Age  reduced  to  simple  greed  and  guile. 
Worn  apathetic  else  as  some  smooth  slab,  erewhile 


Il6  F J  FINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

A  clear-cut  man-at-arms  i'  the  pavement,  till  foot's  tread 
Effaced  the  sculpture,  left  the  stone  you  saw  instead,  — 
Was  not  that  terrible  beyond  the  mere  uncouth  ? 
Well,  and  perhaps  the  next  revolting  you  was  Youth, 
Stark  ignorance  and  crude  conceit,  half  smirk,  half  stare, 
On  that  frank  fool-face,  gay  beneath  its  head  of  hair 
Which  covers  nothing. 


xcvi. 

These,  you  are  to  understand, 
Were  the  mere  hard  and  sharp  distinctions.     On  each 

hand, 
I  soon  became  aware,  flocked  the  infinitude 
Of  passions,   loves    and   hates,    man   pampers   till   his 

mood 
Becomes  himself,  the  whole  sole  face  we  name  him  by. 
Nor  want  denotement  else,  if  age  or  youth  supply 
The  rest  of  him  :  old,  young,  —  classed  creature  :  in  the 

main 
A.  love,  a  hate,  a  hope,  a  fear,  each  soul  a-strain 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  117 

Some  one  way  through  the  flesh, —  the  face  the  evidence 
O'  the  soul  at  work  inside ;  and,  all  the  more  intense, 
So  much  the  more  grotesque. 


XCVII. 

"  Why  should  each  soul  be  tasked 
Some  one  way,  by  one  love  or  else  one  hate  ?  "  I  asked  ; 
When  it  occurred  to  me,  from  all  these  sights  beneath 
There   rose   not   any   sound  :    a   crowd,   yet   dumb    as 
death ! 

XCVIII. 

But  I  knew  why.     (Propose  a  riddle,  and  'tis  solved 
Forthwith  —  in  dream  I)     They  spoke  ;   but  —  since  on 

me  devolved 
To  see,  and  understand  by  sight  —  the  vulgar  speech 
Might  be  dispensed  with.     "  He  who  cannot  see   must_ 

reach 
As  best  he  may  the  truth  of  men  by  help  of  words 
They  please  to  speak  ;  must  fare  at  will  of  who  affords 


Il8  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

The  banquet : "  so  I  thought.     "  Who  sees  not,  hears, 

and  so 
Gets  to  believe :  mj^self  it  is,  that,  seeing,  know. 
And,  knowing,  can  dispense  with  voice  and  vanity 
Of  speech.     What  hinders  then,  tliat,  drawing  closer,  I 
Put  privilege  to  use,  see  and  know  better  still 
These  simulachra,  taste  the  profit  of  my  skill, 
Down  in  the  midst  ?  " 


xcix. 

And  plumb  I  pitched  into  the  square,  — 
A  groundling  like  the  rest.     What  think   you  happened 

there  ? 
Precise  the  contrary  of  what  one  would  expect ! 
For  —  whereas  all  the  more  monstrosities  deflect 
From  nature  and  the  type  the  more  yourself  approach 
Their  precinct  —  here  I  found  brutality  encroach 
I  Less  on  the  human,  lie  the  lightlier  as  I  looked 
The   nearer   on   these   faces   that   seemed   but  now  so 

crooked 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  119 

And   clawed  away  from  God's  prime   purpose.      They 

diverged 
A  little  from  the  type,  but  somehow  rather  urged 
To  pity  than  disgust :  the  prominent  before 
Now  dwindled  into  mere  distinctness, — -nothing  more. 
Still,  at  first  sight,  stood  forth  undoubtedly  the  fact 
Some  deviation  was  :  in  no  one  case  there  lacked 
The  certain  sign  and  mark,  say  hint,  say  trick  of  lip 
Or  twist  of  nose,  that  proved  a  fault  in  workmanship. 
Change  in  the  prime  design,  some  hesitancy  here 
And  there,  which  checked  man's  make,  and  let  the  beast 

appear ; 
But  that  was  all. 

c. 

All ;  yet  enough  to  bid  each  tongue 
Lie  in  abeyan£e  still.     They  talked,  themselves  among. 
Of  themselves,  to  themselves :  I  saw  the  mouths  at  play, 
The  gesture  that  enforced,  the  eye  that  strove  to  sa\- 
The  same   thing  as  the  voice,  and   seldom  gained  its 

point : 
That  this  was  so,  I  saw  ;  but  all  seemed  out  of  joint 


I20  F I  FINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

V  the  vocal  medium  'twixt  the  world  and  me.     I  gained 

Knowledge  by  notice,  not  by  giving  ear ;  attained 

To  truth  by  what  men  seemed,  not  said:   to  me  one 

glance 
"Was  worth  whole  histories  of  noisy  utterance  ; 
At  least,  to  me  in  dream. 

CI. 

And  presently  I  found, 
That,  just  as  ugliness  had  withered,  so  unwound 
Itself,  and  perished  off,  repugnance  to  what  wrong 
Might  linger  yet  i'  the  make  of  man.     My  will  was  strong 
I'  the  matter  :  I  could  pick  and  choose,  project  my  weight, 
(Remember  how  we  saw  the  boatman  trim  his  freight !) 
Determine  to  observe,  or  manage  to  escape, 
Or  make  divergency  assume  another  shape 
By  shift  of  point  of  sight  in  me  the  observer :  thus 
Corrected,  added  to,  subtracted  from,  discuss 
Each  variant  quality,  and  brute-beast  touch  was  turned 
Into  mankind's  safeguard  !    Force,  guile,  were  arms  which 
earned 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  12  I 

My  praise,  not  blame  at  all !  for  we  must  learn  to  live, 
Case-hardened  at  all  points,  not  bare  and  sensitive. 
But  plated  for  defence,  nay,  furnished  for  attack, 
With  spikes  at  the  due  place,  that  neither  front  nor  back 
May  suffer  in  that  squeeze  with  nature  we  find  —  life. 
Are  we   not  here  to  learn   the  good  of  peace  through 

strife, 
Of  love  through  hate,    and   reach   knowledge   by  igno- 
rance ? 
Why,   those    are    helps    thereto    which    late    we    eyed 

askance. 
And  nicknamed  unaware  !     Just  so,  a  sword  we  call 
Superfluous,  and  cry  out  against,  at  festival : 
Wear  it  in  time  of  war,  its  clink  and  clatter  grate 
O'  the  ear  to  purpose  then  ! 

CII. 

I  found  one  must  abate 
One's  scorn  of  the  soul's  case,  distinct  from  the  soul's 
JX  ^^^^         self,— 

Which  is  the  centre-drop  ;  whereas  the  pride  in  pelf, 


^d-d-M^  ,v  *'--  ^^ 


122  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

The  lust  to  seem  the  thing  it  cannot  be,  the  greed 

For  praise,  and  all  the  rest  seen  outside,  —  these,  indeed, 

Are  the  hard  polished  cold  cr}-stal  environment 

Of  those  strange  orbs  unearthed  i'  the   Dmid  tempie. 

meant 
For  divination  (so  the  learned  lean  to  think). 
Wherein  you  may  admire^ne  dew-drop  roll  and  wink, 
All  unaffected  by  —  quite  alien  to  —  what  sealed 
And  saved  it  long  ago  :  though  how  it  got  congealed 
I  shall  not  give  a  guess ;  nor  how,  by  power  occult, 
The  solid  surface-shield  was  outcome  and  result 
Of  simple  dew  at  work  to  save  itself  amid 
The  unwatery  force  around :  protected  thus,  dew  slid 
Safe  through  all  opposites  impatient  to  absorb 
Its  spot  of  life,  and  lasts  forever  in  the  orb 
We  now  from  hand  to  hand  pass  with  impunity. 

cm. 
And  the  delight  wherewith  I  watch  this  crowd  must  be 
Akin  to  that  which  crowns  the  chemist  when  lie  winds 
Thread  up  and  up  till  clew  be  fairly  clutched  ;  unbinds 


FJFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  123 

The  composite  \  ties  fast  tlie  simple  to  its  mate ; 
And,  tracing  each  effect  back  to  its  cause,  elate, 
Constructs  in  fancy,  from  the  fewest  primitives, 
The  complex  and  complete,  all  diverse  life,  that  lives 
Not  only  in  beast,  bird,  fish,  reptile,  insect,  but 
The  very  plants  and  earths  and  ores.     Just  so  I  glut 
My  hunger  both  to  be  and  know  the  thing  I  am 
By  contrast  with  the  thing  I  am  not ;   so,  through  sham 
And  outside,  I  arrive  at  inmost  real,  probe 
And  prove  how  the  nude  form  obtained  the  checkered 
robe. 

CIV. 

—  Experience  I  am  glad  to  master  soon  or  late. 
Here,  there,  and  everywhere  i'  the  world,  without  debate  \ 
Only  in  Venice  why  ?     What  reason  for  Mark's  Square 
Rather  than  Timbuctoo  ? 

cv. 

And  I  became  aware, 
Scarcely  the  word  escaped  my  lips,  that  swift  ensued 
In  silence  and  by  stealth,  and  yet  with  certitude, 


124  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

A  formidable  change  of  the  amphitheatre 

Which  held  the  Carnival ;  although  the  human  stir 

Continued  just  the  same  amid  that  shift  of  scene. 

cvi. 

For  as  on  edifice  of  cloud  i'  the  gray  and  green 
Of  evening,  — built  about  some  glory  of  the  west 
To  barricade  the  sun's  departure,  —  manifest. 
He  plays,  pre-eminently  gold,  gilds  vapor,  crag,  and  crest 
Which  bend  in  rapt  suspense  abovQ  the  act  and  deed 
They  cluster  round  and  keep  their  very  own,  nor  heed 
The  world  at  watch  ;  while  we,  breathlessly  at  the  base 
O'  the  castellated  bulk,  note  momently  the  mace 
Of  night  fall  here,  fall  there,  bring  change  with  every 

blow. 
Alike  to  sharpened  shaft  and  broadened  portico 
I'  the  structure  ;  heights  and  depths,  beneath  the  leaden 

stress, 
Crumble  and  melt  and  mix  together,  coalesce. 
Re-form,  but  sadder  still,  subdued  yet  more  and  more 
By  every  fresh  defeat,  till  wearied  eyes  need  pore 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  125 

No  longer  on  the  dull  impoverished  decadence 
Of  all  that  pomp  of  pile  in  towering  evidence 
So  lately :  — 

cvir. 

Even  thus,  nor  otherwise,  meseemed 
That  if  I  fixed  my  gaze  a  w^hile  on  what  I  dreamed 
Was  Venice'  Square,  Mark's  Church,  the  scheme  was 

straight  unschemed, 
A  subtle  something  had  its  way  within  the  heart 
Of  each  and  every  house  I  watched,  with  counterpart 
Of  tremor  through  the  front  and  outward  face,  until 
Mutation  was  at  end  :  impassive  and  stock-still 
Stood  now  the  ancient  house,  grown, —  new  is  scarce  the 

phrase, 
Since   older,    in    a   sense,  —  altered   to  —  what   i'    the 

ways 
Ourselves  are  won't  to  see,  coerced  by  city,  town, 
Or  village,  anj-where  i'  the  world,  pace  up  or  down 
Europe  !     In  all  the  maze,  no  single  tenement 
I  saw,  but  I  could  claim  acquaintance  with  ! 


126  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

CVIII. 

There  went 
Conviction  to  my  soul,  that  what  I  took  qfjate 
For  Venice  was  the  world  ;  its  Carnival  the_state 
Of  mankind,  masquerade  in  life-long  permanence 
For  all  time,  and  no  one  particular  feast-day.     Whence 
'Twas  easy  to  infer  what  meant  my  late  disgust 
At  the  brute-pageant,  each  grotesque  of  greed  and  lust 
And  idle  hate,  and  love  as  impotent  for  good. 
When  from  my  pride  of  place  I  passed  the  interlude 
In  critical  review ;  and  what  the  wonder  that  ensued, 
When,  from  such  pinnacled  pre-eminence,  I  found 
Somehow  the  proper  goal  for  wisdom  was  the  ground, 
And  not  the  sky,  — so,  slid  sagaciously  betimes 
Down  heaven's  baluster-rope,  to  reach  the  mob  of  mimes 
And  mummers  :  whereby  came  discovery  there  was  just 
Enough  and  not  too  much  of  hate,  love,  greed,  and  lust, 
Could  one  discerningly  but  hold  the  balance,  shift 
The  weight  from  scale  to  scale,  do  justice  to  the  drift 
Of  nature,  and  explain  the  glories  by  the  shames 
Mixed  up  in  man,  one  stuff  miscalled  by  different  names. 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  12? 

According  to  what  stage  i'  the  process  turned  his  rough, 
Even  as  I  gazed,  to  smooth,  —  only  get  close  enough  !  — 
What  was  all  this  except  the  lesson  of  a  life  ? 

cix. 
And  consequent  upon  the  learning  how  from  strife 
Grew  peace,  —  from  evil,  good,  —  came  knowledge,  that, 

to  get 
Acquaintance  with  the  way  o'  the  world,  we  must  nor 

fret 
Nor  fume  on  altitudes  of  self-sufficienc}'. 
But  bid  a  frank  farewell  to  what  —  we  think  —  should  be, 
And,  with  as  good  a  grace,  welcome  what  is — we  find. 

ex. 

Js  —  for  the  hour,  observe!    Since   something  to  my 
mind 
Suggested  soon  the  fancy,  nay,  certitude,  that  changej^ 
Never  suspending  touch,  contimied  to  derange 
■\\Tiat  architecture,  we^  walled  up  within  the  cirque 
O'  the  world,  consider  fixed  as  fate,  not  fair}'-work. 


'X 


h^%j^ 


/v-  ifU"  hjL^^ 


£28  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

For  those  were   temples,  sure,  which  trembUngly  grew 

blank 
From   bright,  then   broke   afresh    in   triumph:   ah!    but 

sank 
As  soon  ;  for  liquid  change  through  artery  and  vein 
O'  the  very  marble  wound  its  way  !     And  first  a  stain 
Would  startle  and  offend  amid  the  glory  ;  next 
Spot  swift  succeeded  spot,  but  found  me  less  perplexed 
By  potents  ;  then,  as  'twere,  a  sleepiness  soft  stole 
Over  the  stately  fane,  and  shadow  sucked  the  whole 
Facade  into  itself,  made  uniformly  earth 
What  was  a  piece  of  heaven  ■  till,  lo  !  a  second  birth. 
And  the  veil  broke  away  because  of  something  new 
Inside,  that  pushed  to  gain  an  outlet,  paused  in  view 
At  last,  and  proved  a  growth  of  stone  or  brick  or  wood, 
Which,  alien  to  the  aim  o'  the  Builder,  somehow  stood 
The  test,  could  satisfy,  if  not  the  early  race 
For  whom  he  built,  at  least  our  present  populace, 
Who  must  not  bear  the  blame  for  what,  blamed,  proves 

mishap 
Of  the  Artist :  his  work  gone,  another  fills  the  gap. 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  129 

Serv^es  the  prime  purpose  so.    Undoubtedly  there  spreads 
Building   around,  above,  which    makes    men    lift   then 

heads 
To  look  at,  or  look  through,  or  look,  for  aught  I  care, 
Over,  —  if  only  up  it  is,  not  down,  they  stare, 
"  Commercing  with  the  skies,"  and  not  the  pavement  in 

the  square. 

CXI. 

But  are  they  only  temples  that  subdivide,  collapse. 
And  tower  again,  transformed  ?     Academies,  perhaps  ! 
Domes  where  dwells  Learning,  seats  of  Science,  bower 

and  hall 
Which  house  Philosophy,  —  do  these,  too,  rise  and  fall, 
Based  though  foundations  be  on  steadfast  moljher-earth, 
With  no  chimeric  claim  to  supermundane  birth  ; 
No  boast,  that,  dropped  from  cloud,  they  did    not  grow 

from  ground  ? 
Why,  these  fare  worst  of  all :  these  vanish,  and  are  found 
Nowhere,  by  who  tasks  eye  some  twice  within  his  term 
Of  threescore  years  and  ten  for  tidings  what  each  germ 


13©  FIUNE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Has  burgeoned  out  into,  whereof  the  promise  stunned 
His  ear  with  such  acclaim,  —  praise-payment  to  refund 
The  praises,  never  doubt,  some  twice  before  they  die 
Whose  days  are  long  i'  the  land. 

CXII. 

Alack,  Philosophy  ! 
Despite  the  chop  and  change,  diminished  or  increased, 
Patched  up  and  plastered  o'er,  Religion  stands  at  least 
I'  the  temple-t}-pe.     But  thou  ?     Here  gape  I,  all  agog 
These  thirty  years,  to  learn  how  tadpole  turns  to  frog ; 
And  thrice  at  least  have  gazed  with  mild  astonishment, 
As,  skyward  up  and  up,  some  fire-new  fabric  sent 
Its  challenge  to  mankind,  that,  clustered  underneath,  — 
They  hear  the  word  and  straight  believe,  ay,  in  the  teeth 
O'  the  Past,  clap  hands,  and  hail  triumphant  Truth's  out- 
break, — 
Tadpole-frog-theory  propounded  past  mistake  ! 
In  vain  !     A  something  ails  the  edifice  :  it  bends, 
It  bows,  it  buries.  .  .  .     Haste  !  cry  "  Heads  below  "  to 
friends ; 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  I3I 

But  have  no  fear  they  find,  when  smother  shall  subside, 
Some  substitution  perk  with  unabated  pride 
r  the  predecessor's  place  ! 

CXIII. 

No  :  the  one  voice  which  failed 
Never,   the    preachment's  coigne    of    vantage   nothing 

ailed,  — 
That  had  the  luck  to  lodge  i'  the  house   not   made  with 

hands ! 
And  all  it  preached  was  this  :  "  Truth  builds  upon   the 

sands, 
Though  stationed  on  a  rockj  and  so  her  work  decays, 
And    so    she  builds  afresh,  with   like   result.       Nought 

stays 
But  just  the  fact  that  Truth  not  only  is,  but  fain 
Would  have  men  know  she   needs  must  be,  by  each  so 

plain 
Attempt  to  visibly  inhabit  where  they  dwell." 
Her  works  are  work,  while  she  is  she :  that  work  does 

well 


132  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Which   lasts    mankind   their  lifetime  through,  and   lets 

believe 
One   generation   more,  that,  though  sand   run   through 

sieve, 
Yet  earth  now  reached  is  rock,  and  what  we   moderns 

find 
Erected  here  is  Truth,  who,  'stablished  to  her  mind 
I'  the  fulness  of  the  days,  will  never  change  in  show 
More  than  in  substance  erst :  men  thought  they  knew  ; 

we  know  ! 

cxiv. 
Do  you,  my  generation  ?     Well,  let  the  blocks  prove 

mist 
r  the  main  enclosure ;  church  and  college,  if  they  list. 
Be  something  for  a  time,  and  every  thing  anon, 
.\nd  any  thing  a  while,  as  fit  is  olT  or  on, 
Till  they  grow  nothing,  soon  to  re-appear  no  less 
As  something,  —  shape  reshaped,  till  out  of  shapeless- 

ness 
Come  shape  again  as  sure  !  no  doubt,  or  round  or  square 
Dr  polygon  its  front,  some  building  will  be  there, 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  133 

Do  duty  in  that  nook  o'  the  wall  o'  the  world  where  once 
The  Architect  saw  fit  precisely  to  ensconce 
College  or  church,  and  bid  such  bulwark  guard  the  line 
O'  the  barrier  round  about,  —  humanity's  confine. 

cxv. 
Leave  watching  change  at  work  i'  the  greater  scale, 

on  these 
The  main  supports,  and  turn  to  their  interstices 
Filled  up  by  fabrics  too,  less  costly  and  less  rare, 
Yet  of  importance,  yet  essential  to  the  Fair 
They  help  to  circumscribe,  instruct,  and  regulate  ! 
See  where  each  booth-front  boasts,  in  letters  small  or 

great. 
Its  specialty,  proclaims  its  privilege  to  stop 
A  breach  beside  the  best ! 

cxvi. 

Here  History  keeps  shop  ; 
Tells  how  past  deeds  were  done,  so  and  not  otherwise  :  — 
"  Man,  hold  truth  evermore  !  forget  the  early  lies  !  " 


134  FIFINE  AT  THE   FAIR. 

There  sits  Morality,  demure  behind  her  stall, 

Dealing   out   life   and   death  :    "  This   is   the    thing   to 

call 

\   Right ;  and  this  other,  wrong  :  thus  think,  thus  do,  thus 
\ 

say, 

Thus  joy,  thus  suffer  !  —  not  to-day  as  yesterday : 

Yesterday's  doctrine  dead,  this  only  shall  endure  ! 

Obey  its  voice,  and  live  !  "  —  enjoins  the  dame  demure. 

While  Art  gives  flag  to  breeze,  bids  drum  beat,  trumpet 
blow. 

Inviting  eye  and  ear  to  yonder  raree-show. 

Up  goes  the  canvas,  hauled  to  height  of  pole.     I  think 

We  know  the  way  —  long  lost,  late  learned  —  to  paint ! 
A  wink 

Of  eye,  and,  lo,  the  pose  !  the  statue  on  its  plinth! 

How  could  we  moderns   miss   the   heart   o'    the   laby- 
rinth 

Perversely  all  these  years,  permit  the  Greek  seclude 

His  secret  till  to-day  ?     And  here's  another  feud 

Now  happily  composed  :  inspect  this  quartet-score  ! 

Got  long  past  melody,  no  word  has  Music  more 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  135 

To  say  to  mortal  man  !     But  is  the  bard  to  be 
Behindhand  ?     Here's  his  book  ;  and  now  perhaps  you 

see, 
At  length,  what  poetry  can  do  ! 

CXVII. 

Why,  that's  stability 
Itself,  that  change  on  change  we  sorrowfully  saw 
Creep  o'er  the  prouder  piles  !     We  acquiesced  in  law 
When  the  fine  gold  grew  dim  i'  the  temple  ;   when  the 

brass 
Which  pillared  that  so  brave  abode  where  Knowledge  was 
Bowed  and  resigned  the  trust :  but  bear  all  this  caprice, 
Harlequinade  where  swift  to  birth  succeeds  decease 
Of  hue  at  every  turn  o'  the  tinsel-flag  which  flames 
While  Art  holds  booth  in  Fair  ?     Such  glories  chased  by 

shames 
Like  these  distract  beyond  the  solemn  and  august 
Procedure  to  decay,  evanishment  in  dust, 
Of  those  marmoreal  domes,  —  above  vicissitude, 
\Ve  used  to  hope  ! 


13^  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

CXVITI. 
.  "  So  all  is  change,  in  fine,"  pursued 

\  The  preachment  to  a  pause.     When  —  "  x\ll  is  perma- 
nence !  " 
)  Returned    a    voice.      Within  ?    without  ?      No    matter 
whence 
The  explanation  came  ;  for,  understand,  I  ought 
To  simply  say  —  I  saw,  each  thing  I  say  I  thought. 
Since  ever  as,  unrolled,  the  strange  scene-picture  grew 
Before  me,  sight  flashed  first,  though  mental  comment  too 
Would  follow  in  a  trice,  come  hobblingly  to  halt. 

CXIX. 

So  what  did  I  see  next,  but, — much  as  when  the  vault 
I'  the  west,  —  wherein  we  watch  the  vapory,  manifold 
Transfiguration,  —  tired  would  turn  to  rest,  —  behold. 
Peak  reconciled  to  base,  dark  ending  feud  with  bright, 
The  multiform  subsides,  is  found  the  definite. 
Contrasting  lives  and  strifes,  where  battle   they  i'  the 

blank 
Severity  of  death  and  peace,  for  which  we  thank 


FIFINE  AT   THE   FAIR.  137 

One  cloud  that  comes  to  quell  the  concourse,  fall  at  last 
Into  a  shape  befits  the  close  of  things,  and  cast 
Palpably  o'er  vexed  earth  heaven's  mantle  of  repose  ? 


cxx. 

Just  so,  in  Venice'  Square,  that  things  were  at  the  close 
Was  signalled  to  my  sense  ;  for  I  perceived  arrest 
O'  the  change  all  round  about.     As  if  some  impulse 

pressed 
Each  gently  into  each,  what  was  distinctness  late 
Grew  vague,  and,  line  from  line  no  longer  separate, 
No  matter  what  the  style,  edifice  —  shall  I  say, 
Died  into  edifice  ?     I  find  no  simpler  way 
Of  saying  how,  without  or  dash  or  shock  or  trace 
Of  violence,  I  found  unity  in  the  place 
Of  temple,  tower,  and  hall  and  house  and  hut,  —  one 

blank 
Severit}'  of  death  and  peace  ;  to  which  they  sank 
Resigned  enough,  till  — ah  !  conjecture,  I  beseech, 
What  special  blank  did  they  agree  to,  all  and  each  ? 


138  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

What   common   shape   was   that   wherein    they  mutely 

merged 
Likes  and  dislikes  of  form,  so  plain  before  ? 


cxxi. 

I  urged 

Your  step  this  way,  prolonged  our  path  of  enterprise 

To  where  we  stand  at  last,  in  order  that  your  eyes 

Might  see  the  very  thing,  and  save  my  tongue  describe 

The  Druid  monument  wl'ich  fronts  you.      Could  I  bribe 

Nature  to  come  in  aid,  illustrate  what  I  mean, 

What  wants   there    she  would   lend   to    solemnize   the 

scene  ? 

cxxir. 
How  does  it  strike  you,  this  construction  gaunt  and 
gray? 
Sole  object,  these   piled  stones,  that  gleam    unground 

away 
By  twilight's  hungry  jaw,  which  champs  fine  all  beside 
r  the  solitary  waste  we  grope  through.     Oh,  no  guide, 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  139 

However,  need  we  now  to  reach  the  monstrous  door 
Of  granite !     Take  my  word,  the  deeper  you  explore 
That  caverned  passage,  filled  with  fancies  to  the  brim, 
The   less  will  you   approve    the    adventure !    such    a 

grim 
Bar-sinister  soon  blocks  abrupt  your  path,  and  ends 
All  with  a  cold  dread  shape,  —  shape  whereon  Learning 

spends 
Labor,  and  leaves  the  text  obscurer  for  the  gloss  ; 
While    Ignorance    reads    right,  —  recoiling    from    that 

Cross  ! 
Whence  came  the  mass  and  mass,  strange  quality  of 

stone 
Unquarried  anywhere  i'  the  region  round  ?     Unknown  ! 
Just  as  unknown  how  such  enormit}^  could  be 
Conveyed  by  land,  or  else  transported  over  sea, 
And  laid  in  order,  so,  precisely  each  on  each 
As  you  and  I  would  build  a  grotto  where  the  beach 
Sheds  shell,  —  to  last  an  hour  :  this  building  lasts  from 

age 
To  age  the  same.     But  why  ? 


14°  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

CXXIII. 

Ask  Learning  !  I  engage 
Vou  get  a  prosy  wherefore  shall  help  3^011  to  advance 
In  knowledge  just  as  much  as  helps  you  Ignorance 
Surmising,  in  the  mouth  of  peasant  lad  or  lass,  — 
"  I  heard  my  father  say  he  understood  it  was 
A  building  people  built  as  soon  as  earth  was  made 
Almost,  because  they  might  forget  (they  were  afraid) 
Earth  did  not  make  itself,  but  came  of  Somebody. 
They  labored    that    their   work    might    last,    and    sho\\ 

thereby 
ria  stays,  while  we  and  earth  and  all  things  come  and 

go- 
Come  whence  ?     Go  whither  ?     That,  when  come    and 

gone,  we  know, 
Perhaps,  but  not  while  earth  and  all  things  need  our  best 
Attention  :  we  must  wait  and  die  to  know  the  rest. 
Ask,  if  that's  true,  what  use  in  setting  up  the  pile  ? 
To  make  one  fear  and  hope;  remind  us,  all  the  while 
We  come  and  go,  outside  there's  Somebody  that  stays,— 
A  circumstance  which  ought  to  make  us  mind  our  ways ; 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  141 

Because,  —  whatever  end  we  answer  by  this  life, — 
Next  time,  best  chance  must  be  for  who  with  toil  and 

strife 
Manages  now  to  live  most  like  what  he  was  meant 
Become  :  since  who  succeeds  so  far,  'tis  evident. 
Stands  foremost  on  the  file  ;  who  fails  has  less  to  hope 
From  new  promotion.     That's  the  rule,  —  with  even  a 

rope 
Of    mushrooms   like   this   rope   I    dangle !    those   that 

grew 
Greatest  and  roundest,  all  in  life  they  had  to  do, 
Gain  a  reward,  a  grace  they  never  dreamed,  I  think ; 
Since,  outside  white  as  milk,  and  inside  black  as  ink, 
They  go  to  the  Great  House  to  make  a  dainty  dish 
For  Don  and  Donna  ;  while  this  basket-load,  I  wish 
Well  off  my  arm,  it  breaks,  —  no  starveling  of  the  heap 
But  had  his  share  of  dew,  his  proper  length  of  sleep 
r  the  sunshine  :  yet,  of  all,  the  outcome  is,  —  this  queer 
Cribbed  quantity  of  dwarfs  which  burthen  basket  here 
Till  I  reach  home ;  'tis  there,  that,  having  run  their  rigs, 
They  end  their  earthly  race,  are  flung  as  food  for  pigs. 


142  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Any  more  use    I    see  ?      Well,   you  must   know,  there 

lies 
Something,  the  cure  says,  that  points  to  mysteries 
Above  our  grasp  :  a  huge  stone  pillar,  once  upright, 
Now  laid  at  length,  half  lost,  —  discreetly  shunning  sight 
I'  the  bush  and  brier,  because  of  stories  in  the  air,  — 
Hints  what  it  signified,  and  why  was  stationed  there. 
Once  on  a  time.     In  vain  the  cure  tasked  his  lungs  ; 
Showed,  in  a  preachment,  how,  at  bottom  of  the  rungs 
O'  the  ladder  Jacob  saw,  where  heavenly  angels  stept 
Up  and  down,  lay  a  stone  which  served  him,  while  he 

slept, 
For  pillow  ;  when  he  woke,  he  set  the  same  upright 
As  pillar,  and  atop  poured  oil  :  things  requisite 
To  instruct  posterity,  there  mounts  from  floor  to  roof 
A  staircase,  earth  to  heaven  ;  and  also  put  in  proof, 
When  we  have  scaled  the  sky,  we  well  may  let  alone 
What  raised  us  from  the  ground,  and  —  paying  to  the 

stone 
Proper  respect,  of  course  —  take  staff  and  go  our  way, 
Leaving  the  Pagan  night  for  Christian  break  of  day. 


FIFINE  AT   THE  FAIR.  143 

For,'  preached  he,  '  what  they  dreamed,  these  Pagans, 

wide-awake, 
We  Christians  may  behold.     How  strange,  then,  were 

mistake, 
Did  anybody  style  the  stone  —  because  of  drop 
Remaining  there  from  oil  which  Jacob  poured  atop  — 
Itself  the  Gate  of  Heaven  ;  itself  the  end,  and  not 
The  means  thereto  !  '     Thus  preached  the  cure,  and  no 

jot 
The  more  persuaded  people,  but  that,  what  once  a  thing 
Meant,  and  had  right  to  mean,  it  still  must  mean.     So 

cling 
Folk  somehow  to  the  prime  authoritative  speech. 
And  so  distrust  report,  it  seems  as  they  could  reach 
Far  better  the  arch-word,  whereon  their  fate  depends. 
Through  rude  charactery,  than  all  the  grace  it  lends. 
That  lettering  of  your  scribes  !  who  flourish  pen  apace, 
And  ornament  the  text,  they  say  ;  we  say,  efface. 
Hence,  when  the  earth  began  its  life  afresh  in  May, 
And  fruit-trees  bloomed,  and  waves  would  wanton,  and 
the  bay 


144  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

RufHe  its  wealth  of  weed,  and  stranger-birds  arrive, 
And  beasts  take  each  a  mate,  —  folk,  too,  found  sensi- 
tive. 
Surmised  the  old  gray  stone  upright  there,  through  such 

tracts 
Of  solitariness  and  silence,  kept  the  facts 
Intrusted  it,  could  deal  out  doctrine,  did  it  please  : 
No  fresh  and  frothy  draught,  but  liquor  on  the  lees, 
Strong,  savage,  and  sincere, — first  bleedings  from  a  vine, 
Whereof  the  product  now  do  cures  so  refine 
To  insipidity,  that,  when  heart  sinks,  we  strive 
And  strike  from  out  the  old  stone  the  old  restorative. 
*  Which  is  ? '  —  why,  go  and  ask  our  grandams  how  they 

used 
To  dance  around  it,  till  the  cure  disabused 
Their  ignorance,  and  bade  the  parish  in  a  band 
Lay  flat  the  obtrusive  thing  that  cumbered  so  the  land  ! 
And  there,  accordingly,  in  bush  and  brier,  it  ^ '  bides 
Its  time  to  rise  again '  (so  somebody  derides. 
That's  pert  from  Paris);  'since  yon  spire,  you  keep  erect 
V  onder,  and  pray  beneath,  is  nothing,  I  suspect, 


FIFINE  A  T  THE  FAIR.  145 

But  just  the  symbol's  self,  expressed  in  slate  for  rock, — 
Art's  smooth  for  Nature's  rough,  new  chip  from  the  old 

block  !  ' 
There,  sir,  my  say  is  said!     Thanks,  and   Saint  Gille 

increase 
The  wealth  bestowed  so  well !  "  —  wherewith  he  pockets 

piece, 
Doffs  cap,  and  takes  the  road.      I   leave   in   Learning's 

clutch 
More  money  for  his  book,  but  scarcely  gain  as  much.    . 

CXXIV. 

To  this  it  was,  tliis  same  primeval  monument, 
That,  in  my  dream,  I  saw  building  with  building  blent 
Fall  :  each  on  each  they  fast  and  founderingly  went 
Confusion-ward  ;  but  thence  again  subsided  fast, 
Became  the  mound  you  see.     Magnificently  massed 
Indeed,  those  mammoth-stones,  piled  by  the  Protoplast 
Temple-wise  in  my  dream  !  beyond  compare  with  fanes. 
Which,  solid-looking  late,  had  left  no  least  remains 
I'  the  bald  and  blank,  now  sole  usurper  of  the  plains 


146  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Of  heaven,  diversified  and  beautiful  before. 

And  yet  simplicity  appeared  to  speak  no  more 

Nor  less    to    me  than  spoke  the  compound.      At  the 

core, 
One  and  no  other  word,  as  in  the  crust  of  late. 
Whispered,  which,  audible  through  the  transition-state, 
Was  no  loud  utterance  in  even  the  ultimate 
Disposure.     For  as  some  imperial  chord  subsists. 
Steadily  underlies  the  accidental  mists 
Of  music  springing  thence,  that  run  their  mazy  race 
Around,  and  sink,  absorbed,  back  to  the  triad  base  ; 
So,  out  of  that  one  word,  each  variant  rose  and  fell, 
And  left  the  same  "  All's  change,  but  permanence   as 

well." 
Grave   note,   whence  —  list   aloft !  —  harmonics   sound, 

that  mean,  — 
"  Truth  inside  ;  and,  outside,  truth  alao  ;  and^^between 
Each,  falsehood  tliat  is  change,  as  truth  is  permanence. 
The  individual  soul  works  through  the  shows  of  sense 
(Which,  ever  proving  false,  still  promise  to  be  true) 
Up  to  an  outer  soul  as  individual  too  ; 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  147 

And,  through  the  fleeting,  lives  to  die  into  the  fixed. 
And   reach   at   length   '  God,    man,   or    both    together 

mixed,' 
Transparent  through  the  flesh,  by  parts  which  prove  a 

whole, 
By  hints  which  make  the  soul  discernible  by  soul,  — 
Let  only  soul  look  up,  not  down,  not  hate,  but  love. 
As  truth  successively  takes  shape,  one  grade  above 
Its  last  presentment,  tempts  as  it  were  truth  indeed 
Revealed    this     time ;     so    tempts,    till    we    attain    to 

read 
The  signs  aright,  and  learn,  by  failure,  truth  is  forced 
To  manifest  itself  through  falsehood  ;  whence  divorced 
By  the  excepted  eye,  at  the  rare  season,  for 
The  happy  moment,  truth  instructs  us  to  abhor 
The  false,  and  prize  the  true,  obtainable  thereby. 
Then  do  we  understand  the  value  of  a  lie  : 
Its  purpose  served,  its  truth  once  safe  deposited, 
Each  lie,  superfluous  now,  leaves,  in  the  singer's  stead, 
The  indubitable  song ;  the  historic  personage 
Put  by,  leaves  prominent  the  impulse  of  his  age  j 


148  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Truth  sets  aside  speech,  act,  time,  place,   indeed,  but 

brings 
Nakedly  forward  now  the  principle  of  things 
Highest  and  least." 

cxxv. 
Wherewith   change  ends.      What 
other  change  to  dread, 
When,  disengaged  at  last  from  every  veil,  instead 
Of  type   remains   the   truth  ?     Once  —  falsehood  ;    but 

anon 
Theosufon  e  broteion  eper  kekratfienon,  — 
Something   as   true    as   soul    is   true,   though   veils    be- 
tween 
Are  false,  and  fleet  away.     As  I  mean,  did  he  mean, 
The  poet  whose  bird-phrase  sits,  singing  in  my  ear 
A  myster}^  not  unlike  ?     What  through   the  dark  and 

drear 
Brought   comfort   to    the    Titan  ?     Emerging   from    the 

lymph, 
"  God,  man,  or  mixture,"  proved  only  to  be  a  nymph  : 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  1 49 

"  From  whom    the   clink   on   clink   of  metal "  (money, 

judged 
Abundant   in   my  purse)   "  struck "  (bumped   at,    till   it 

budged) 
'•  The  modesty,  her  soul's  habitual  resident," 
(AVhere  late  the  sisterhood  were  lively  in  their  tent,) 
"  As  out  of  winged  car  "  (that  caravan  on  wheels) 
"  Impulsively  she  rushed,  no  slippers  to  her  heels," 
And  "  Fear  not,  friends  we  flock  ! "  soft  smiled  the  sea- 

Fifine,  — 
Primitive  of  the  veils  (if  he  meant  what  I  mean) 
The   poet's   Titan    learned    to   lift,  ere  "  Three-formed 

Fate, 
Moirai  Trimorphoi,'"  stood  unmasked  the  Ultimate. 

cxxvi. 
Enough  o'  the  dream  !    You  see  how  poetry  turns  prose. 
Announcing  wonder-work,  I  dwindle  at  the  close 
Down  to  mere  commonplace  which  everybody  knows. 
But  dreaming  disappoints.     The  fresh  and  strange  at  first 
Soon  wear  to  trite  and  tame,  nor  warrant  the  outburst 


150  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Of  heart   with   which   we   hail   those   heights,    at  very 

brink 
Of  heaven,  whereto  one  least  of   hfts  would  lead,  we 

think ; 
But   wherefrom    quick    decline    conducts    our    step,   we 

find, 
To  homely  earth,  and  fact  familiar  left  behind. 
Did  not  this  monument,  for  instance,  long  ago 
Say  all  it  had  to  say,  show  all  it  had  to  show, 
Nor  promise  to  do  duty  more  in  dream  ? 

CXXVII. 

Awaking  so, 
What   if  we,  homeward-bound,  all  peace  and  some  fa- 
tigue. 
Trudge,  soberly  complete  our  tramp  of  near  a  league, 
Last  little  mile  which  makes  the  circuit  just,  Elvire  ? 
We  end  where  we  began  :  that  consequence  is  clear. 
All  peace  and  some  fatigue,  wherever  we  were  nursed 
To  life,  we  bosom  us  on  death,  find  last  is  first, 
And  thenceforth  final  too. 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  151 

CXXVIII. 

"  Why  final  ?     Why  the  more 
Worth  credence  now  than  when  such  truth  proved  false 

before  ?  " 
Because  a  novel  point  impresses  now  :  each  lie 
Redounded  to  the  praise  of  man,  was  victory 
Man's  nature  had  both  right  to  get,  and  might  to  gain, 
And  by  no  means  implied  submission  to  the  reign 
Of  other  quite  as  real  a  nature,  that  saw  fit 
To  have  its  way  with  man,  not  man  its  way  with  it. 
This  time,  acknowledgment  and  acquiescence  quell 
Their  contrary  in  man  ;  promotion  proves  as  well 
Defeat;  and  Truth,  unlike  the  False  with  Truth's  outside. 
Neither  plumes  up  his  will,  nor  pufts  him  out  with  pride. 
I  fancy  there  must  lurk  some  cogency  i'  the  claim, 
Man,  such  abatement  made,  submits  to,  all  the  same. 
Soul  finds  no  triumph,  here,  to  register  like  Sense, 
With  whom  'tis  ask  and  have,  — the  want,  the  evidence 
That  the  thing  wanted,  soon  or  late  will  be  supplied. 
This   indeed  plumes  up  will,  this,  sure,  puffs  out  with 

pride, 


•/. 


152  F I  FINE  AT  THE    FAIR. 

When,  reading  records  right,  man's  instincts  still  attest 
Promotion  comes  to  Sense  because  Sense  likes  it  best  : 
For  bodies  sprouted  legs,  through  a  desire  to  run  ; 
While  hands,  when  fain  to  filch,  got  fingers  one  by  one  ; 
And  nature,  that's  ourself,  accommodative  brings 
To  bear,  that,  tired  of  legs  which  walk,  we  now  bud  wings, 
Since  of  a  mind  to  fly.     Such  savor  in  the  nose 
Of  Sense  would  stimulate  Soul  sweetly,  I  suppose,  — 
Soul  with  its  proper  itch  of  instinct,  prompting  clear 
To  recognize  Soul's  self  Soul's  only  master  here 
Alike  from  first  to  last.      But  if  time's  pressure,  light's, 
Or  rather  dark's,  approach,  wrest  thoroughly  the  rights 
Of  rule  away,  and  bid  the  soul  submissive  bear 
Another  soul  than  it  play  master  everywhere 
1     In  great  and  small,  —  this  time,  I  fancy,  none_clisputes_^ 
\    There's  something  in  the  fact  that  such  conclusion  suits 
,  \  Nowise    the    pride    of    man,    nor   yet    chimes    in    with 
attributes 
Conspicuous  in  the  lord  of  nature.     He  receives, 
\nd     not    demands,  —  not    first    likes  faith,  and    then 
believes. 


^  WPL  ^-4«^..-.  ^/^  ir^H^j^,-^ 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  153 

CXXIX. 

And  as  with  the  last  essence,  so  with   its  tirst  faint 

type. 
Inconstancy  means  raw ;  'tis  faith  alone  means  ripe 
r  the  soul  which  runs   its   round  :    no  matter  how  it 

range 
From  Helen  to  Fifine,  Elvire  bids  back  the  change 
To   permanence.       Here,    too,    love    ends   where    love 

began. 
Such  ending  looks  like  law,  because  the  natural  man- 
Inclines  the  other  way,  feels  lordlier  free  than  bound. 
Poor  pabulum  for  pride  when  the  first  love  is  found 
Last  also  !  and,  so  far  from  realizing  gain. 
Each  step  aside  just  proves  divergency  in  vain. 
The  wanderer  brings  home  no  profit  from  his  quest 
Beyond    the    sad    surmise    that    keeping    house   were 

best 
Could  life  begin  anew.     His  problem  posed  aright 
Was,  "  From  the  given  point  evolve  the  infinite  !  " 
Not,  "  Spend  thyself  in  space,  endeavoring  to  joint 
Together,  and  so  make  infinite,  point  and  point : 


154  FIFINE  AT  THE   FAIR. 

Fix  into  one  Elvire  a  Fair-ful  of  Fifines  !  " 
Fifine,  the  foam-flake,  she  :  Elvire,  the  sea's  self,  means 
Capacity  at  need  to  shower  how  many  such  ! 
And  3"et  we  left  her  calm  profundit)',  to  clutch 
Foam-flutter,  bell  on  bell,  that,  bursting  at  a  touch. 
Blistered  us  for  our  pains.     But,  wise,  we  want  no  more 
O'  the  fickle  element.     Enough  of  foam  and  roar  ! 
Land-locked,  we  live  and  die  henceforth  ;  for  here's  the 
villa-door. 

cxxx. 

How  pallidly  you   pause  o'  the   threshold !     Hardly 

night. 
Which  drapes  you,  ought  to  make  real  flesh   and  blood 

so  white ! 
Touch  me,  and  so  appear  alive  to  all  intents  ! 
Will  the  saint  vanish  from  the  sinner  that  repents  ? 
Suppose  you  are  a  ghost !  —  a  memory,  a  hope, 
A  fear,  a  conscience  !     Quick  !  —  give  back  the  hand  I 

grope 
r  the  dusk  for ! 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  IS5 

CXXXI. 

That  is  well.     Our  double  horoscope 
I  cast,  while  you  concur.     Discard  that  simile 
O'  the  fickle  element !     Elvire  is  land,  not  sea,  — 
The  solid  land,  the  safe.     All  these  word-bubbles  came 
O'  the  sea,  and  bite  like  salt.     The  unlucky  bath's   to 

blame. 
This  hand  of  yours  on  heart  of  mine,  no  more  the  bay 
I  beat,  nor  bask  beneath  the  blue  !     In  Pornic,  say. 
The  mayor  shall  catalogue  me  duly  domiciled, 
Contributable,  good-companion  of  the  guild 
And  mystery  of  marriage.     I  stickle  for  the  town, 
And  not  this  tower  apart ;    because,  though,  half  way 

down, 
Its  mullions  wink  o'er-webbed  with  bloomy  greenness  yet, 
Who  mounts  to  staircase  top  may  tempt  the  parapet, 
And  sudden  there's  the  sea  !     No  memories  to  arouse. 
No  fancies  to  delude  !     Our  honest  civic  house 
Of  the  earth  be  earthy  too  !  —  or  graced  perchance  with 

shell 
Made  prize  of  long  ago,  picked  haply  where  the  swell 


156  FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR. 

Menaced  a  little  once  ;  or  seaweed- branch  that  yet 
Dampens  and  softens,  notes  a  freak  of  wind,  a  fret 
Of  wave  :  though  why  on  earth  should  sea-change  mend 
or  mar 
fyiC^     The  calm  contemplative  householders  that  we  are? 

So  shall  the  seasons  fleet,  while  our  two  selves  abide  : 
E'en  past  astonishment  how  sunrise  and  springtide 
Could  tempt  one  forth  to  swim  ;   the  more  if  time  ap- 
points 
That  swimming  grow  a  task  for  one's  rheumatic  joints. 
Such  honest  civic  house,  behold,  I  constitute 
Our  villa !     Be    but    flesh    and    blood,    and    smile    to 

boot! 
Enter  for  good  and  all !  then  fate  bolt  fast  the  door. 
Shut  you  and  me  inside,  never  to  wander  more  ! 

cxxxir. 
Only,  you  do  not  use  to  apprehend  attack  ! 
No  doubt,  the  way  I  march,  one  idle  arm,  thrown  slack 
Behind  me,  leaves  the  open  hand    defenceless   at   the 
back, 


FIFINE  AT  THE  FAIR.  157 

Should  an  impertinent  on  tiptoe  steal,  and  stuff — 

Whatever  can  it  be  ?     A  letter  sure  enough, 

Pushed  betwixt  palm   and  glove!     That  largess  of   a 

franc  ? 
Perhaps  inconsciously,  —  to  better  help  the  blank 
O'  the  nest,  her  tambourine,  and,  laying  egg,  persuade 
A  family  to  follow,  the  nest-egg  that  I  laid 
May  have  contained  —  but  just  to  foil  suspicious  folk  — 
Between  two  silver  whites  a  yellow  double  yolk ! 
Oh,  threaten  no  farewell !  five  minutes  shall  suffice 
To  clear  the  matter  up.     I  go,  and  in  a  trice 
Return  ;  five  minutes  past,  expect  me  !     If  in  vain,  — 
Why,  slip  from  flesh  and   blood,  and   play   the   ghost 


EPILOGUE. 


The  Householder. 


Savage  I  was  sitting  in  my  house,  j  ate,  lone  ; 

Drear}',  weary  with  the  long  day's  work  ; 
Head  of  me,  heart  of  me,  stupid  as  a  stone  ; 

Tongue-tied  now,  now  blaspheming  like  a  Turk  ; 
When,  in  a  moment,  just  a  knock,  call,  cry, 

Half  a  pang,  and  all  a  rapture,  there  again  were  we  1 
"  What,  and  is  it  really  you  again  ?  "  quoth  I. 

"  I  again  ;  what  else  did  you  expect  ? "  quoth  She. 
is8 


EPILOGUE.  159 

II. 
"  Never  mind  :  hie  away, from  this  old  house,  — 

Every  crumbling  brick  imbrowned  with  sin  and  shame  ! 
Quick  !  in  its  comers  ere  certain  shapes  arouse  ■ 

Let  them  —  every  devil  of  the  night  —  lay  claim, 
Make  and  mend,  or  rap  and  rend,  for  me  !     Good-by  ! 

God  be  their  guard  from  disturbance  at  their  glee, 
Till,  crash,  comes  down  the  carcass  in  a  heap  !  "  quoth  I, 

"  Nay  ;  but  there's  a  decency  required  !  "  quoth  She. 

HI. 
"  Ah,  but  if  you  knew  how  time  has  dragged,  da3-s,  nights  ! 

All  the  neighbor-talk  with  man  and  maid,  —  such  men  ! 
All  the  fuss  and  trouble  of  street-sounds,  window-sights  ; 

All  the  worry  of  flapping  door  and  echoing  roof;  and,  then, 
All  the  fancies.  .  .  .  Who  were  they  had  leave,  dared  try 

Darker  arts  that  almost  struck  despair  in  me  ? 
If  you  knew  but  how  I  dwelt  down  here  !  "  quoth  I. 

"  And  was  I  so  better  off  up  there  ? "  quoth  She. 

XV. 
"  Help  and  get  it  over  !     Re-imiiedio  his  wife, 

(How  draw  up  the  paper  lets  the  parish-people  know .') 
Lies  M.  or  N.,  departed  from  this  life, 

Day  the  this  or  that,  month  and  year  the  so  aTid  so. 


l6o  EPILOGUE. 

Wliat  i'  the  way  of  final  flourish  ?     Prose,  verse  ?     Try  . 

Affliction  sore  long  time  he  bore,  or  what  is  it  to  be  ? 
Till  God  did  please  to  grant  him  ease.     Do  end  !  "  quoth  I. 

"I  end  with  —  Love  is  all,  and  Death  is  nought !"  quoth  She. 


PRINCE    HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

SAVIOUR   OF   SOCIETY. 


eJ  J   d^ 


'Tdpav  (jiovevaag,  /ivpiuv  r'  aXkurv  novcjv 
6lt]A-&ov  uyi/MQ    .    .    . 
TO  /lOiadiov  6i  rovd'  It'Atjv  -ahaq  tvovov, 
dCifia    -dpiyKunat    KaKoiQ. 

I  slew  the  Hydra,  and  Irom  labor  passed 
To  labor,  —  tribes  of  labors  !     Till  at  last. 
Attempting  one  more  labor,  in  a  trice, 
Alack  !  with  ills  I  crozoncd  the  edifice. 


Prince    Hohenstiel-Schwangau, 


SAVIOUR    OF   SOCIETY. 


You  have  seen  better  days,  clear  ?     So  have  I,  — 
And  worse  too  ;  for  thc)^  brought  no  such  bud-mouth 
As  yours  to  lisp,  "  You  wish  you  knew  me  !  "     Well, 
Wise  men,  'tis  said,  have  sometimes  wished  the  same, 
And  wished  and  had  their  trouble  for  their  pains. 
Suppose  my  CEdipus  should  lurk  at  last 
Under  a  pork-pie  hat  and  crinoline, 
And,  latish,  pounce  on  Sphinx  in  Leicester  Square  ? 
Or,  likelier,  what  if  Sphinx  in  wise  old  age. 
Grown  sick  of  snapping  foolish  people's  heads, 
And  jealous  for  her  riddle's  proper  rede, — 

163 


1 64  PRINCE  HOHENSTrEL-SCHWAiVGAU, 

Jealous  that  the  good  trick  which  served  the  turn 

Have  justice  rendered  it,  nor  class  one  day 

Wirh  friend  Home's  stilts  and  tongs  and  medium-ware, 

What  if  the  once  redoubted  Sphinx,  I  say, 

(Because  night  draws  on,  and  the  sands  increase, 

And  desert-whispers  grow  a  prophecy,) 

Tell  all  to  Corinth  of  her  own  accord. 

Bright  Corinth,  not  dull  Thebes,  for  Lais'  sake, 

Who  finds  me  hardly  gray,  and  likes  my  nose, 

And  thinks  a  man  of  sixty  at  the  prime  ? 

Good  !     It  shall  be  !     Revealment  of  myself! 

But  listen  ;  for  we  must  co-operate. 

I  don't  drink  tea  :  permit  me  the  cigar. 

First,  how  to  make  the  matter  plain,  of  course, — 
What  was  the  law  by  which  I  lived.     Let's  see : 
Ay,  we  must  take  one  instant  of  mv  life 
Spent  sitting  by  your  side  in  this  neat  room  : 
Watch  well  the  way  I  use  it,  and  don't  laugh. 
Here's  paper  on  the  table,  pen  and  ink : 
Give  me  the  soiled  bit^  not  the  pretty  rose. 


SAVIOUR   OP  SOCIETY.  i6: 

See !  having  sat  an  hour,  I'm  rested  now, 

Therefore  want  work  ;  and  spy  no  better  work 

For  eye  and  hand,  and  mind  that  guides  them  both, 

During  this  instant,  than  to  draw  my  pen 

From  blot  One  —  thus  —  up,  up  to  blot  Two  —  thus  — 

Which  I  at  last  reach,  thus ;  and  here's  my  line 

Five  inches  long,  and  tolerably  straight. 

Better  to  draw  than  leave  undrawn,  I  think ; 

Fitter  to  do  than  let  alone,  I  hold  ; 

Though  better,  fitter,  by  but  one  degree. 

Therefore  it  was,  that,  rather  than  sit  still 

Simply,  my  right  hand  drew  it  while  my  left 

Pulled  smooth  and  pinched  the  mustache  to  a  point. 

Now  I  permit  your  plumjD  lips  to  unpurse  :  — 

"  So  far,  one  possibly  may  understand 

Without  recourse  to  witchcraft."     True,  my  dear. 

Thus  folks  begin  with  Euclid  ;  finish,  how  ? 

Trj'ing  to  square  the  circle  !  —  at  any  rate, 

Solving  abstruser  problems  than  this  first, — 

"  How  find  the  nearest  way  'twixt  point  and  point." 


1 66  PRINCE   HOHENSTIEL-SCHVVANGAU, 

Deal  but  with  moral  mathematics  so  ; 

Master  one  merest  moment's  work  of  mine, 

Kven  this  practising  with  pen  and  ink  ; 

Demonstrate  why  I  rather  plied  the  quill 

Than  left  the  space  a  blank,  —  you  gain  a  fact ; 

And  God  knows  what  a  fact's  worth !     So  proceed 

By  inference  from  just  this  moral  fact ; 

I  don't  say  to  that  plaguy  quadrature, 

"  What  the  whole  man  meant,  whom  you  wish  you  knew," 

But  what  meant  certain  things  he  did  of  old 

Which  puzzled  Europe ;  why,  you'll  find  them  plain, 

This  way,  not  otherwise  :  I  guarantee, 

Understand  one,  you  comprehend  the  rest. 

Rays  from  all  round  converge  to  any  point : 

Study  the  point,  then,  ere  you  track  the  rays. 

The  size  o'  the  circle's  nothing  :  subdivide 

Earth,  and  earth's  smallest  grain  of  mustard-seed, 

You  count  as  many  p.^rts,  small  matching  large, 

If  you  can  use  the  mind's  eye  ;  otherwise. 

Material  optics,  being  gross  at  best. 

Prefer  the  large,  and  leave  our  mind  the  small. 


SAVIOUR    OF  SOCIETY.  167 

And  pray  how  many  folks  have  minds  can  see  ? 
Certainly  you,  and  somebody  in  Thrace 
Whose  name  escapes  me  at  the  moment.     You  — 
Lend  me  your  mind,  then.     Analyze  with  me 
This  instance  of  the  line  'twixt  blot  and  blot 
I  rather  chose  to  draw  than  leave  a  blank, 
Things  else  being  equal.     You  are  taught  thereby 
That  'tis  my  nature,  when  I  am  at  ease, 
'{Rather  than  idle  out  my  life  too  long, 
To  want  to  do  a  thirig,  to  put  a  thought, 
I  Whether  a  great  thought  or  a  little  one, 
]  Into  an  act,  as  nearly  as  may  be. 
Make  what  is  absolutely  new,  I  can't ; 
Mar  what  is  made  already  well  enough, 
I  won't :  but  turn  to  best  account  the  thing 


That's  half  made,  that  I  can.     Two  blots  you  saw 
I  knew  how  to  extend  into  a  line 
Symmetric  on  the  sheet  they  blurred  before : 
Such  little  act  sufficed,  this  time,  such  thought. 

Now  we'll  extend  rays,  widen  out  the  verge, 


1 68  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU.. 

Describe  a  larger  circle,  leave  this  first 

Clod  of  an  instance  we  began  with,  rise 

To  the  complete  world  many  clods  effect. 

Only  continue  patient  while  I  throw, 

Delver-like,  spadeful  after  spadeful  up, 

Just  as  truths  come,  the  subsoil  of  me,  mould 

Whence  spring  my  moods  :  your  object,  — just  to  find, 

Alike  from  hand-lift  and  from  barrow-load. 

What  salts  and  silts  may  constitute  the  earth, 

If  it  be  proper  stuff  to  blow  man  glass. 

Or  bake  him  pottery,  bear  him  oaks  or  wheat ; 

What's  born  of  me,  in  brief;  which  found,  all's  known. 

If  it  were  genius  did  the  digging  job, 

Logic  would  speedily  sift  its  product  smooth. 

And  leave  the  crude  truths  bare  for  poetry ; 

But  I'm  no  poet,  and  am  stiff  i'  the  back. 

What  one  spread  fails  to  bring,  another  may. 

In  goes  the  shovel,  and  out  comes  scoop,  —  as  here ! 

I  live  to  please  myself     I  recognize 
Power  passing  mine,  immeasurable,  God,  — 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  169 

Above  me  whom  he  made,  as  heaven  beyond 

Earth,  —  to  use  figures  which  assist  our  sense. 

I  know  that  he  is  there  as  I  am  here. 

By  the  same  proof,  which  seems  no  proof  at  all, 

It  so  exceeds  familiar  forms  of  proof. 

Why  "  there,"  not "  here  "  ?    Because,  when  I  say  "  there," 

I  treat  the  feeling  with  distincter  shape 

That  space  exists  between  us  ;  I,  not  he. 

Live,  think,  do  human  work  here :  no  machine 

His  will  moves,  but  a  being  by  myself, 

His,  and  not  he  who  made  me  for  a  work, 

Watches  my  working,  judges  its  effect, 

But  does  not  interpose.     He  did  so  once, 

And  probably  will  again  some  time,  not  now, 

Life  being  the  minute  of  mankind,  not  God's, 

In  a  certain  sense,  like  time  before  and  time 

After  man's  earthly  life,  so  far  as  man 

Needs  apprehend  the  matter.     Am  I  clear  ? 

Suppose  I  bid  a  courier  take  to-night,  — 

(Once  for  all,  let  me  talk  as  if  I  smoked 

Yet  in  the  Residenz,  a  personage  : 


I70         PRINCE   ROHENSTIEL-^ :FIWANGAU, 

I  must  still  represent  the  thing  I  was, 

Galvanically  make  dead  muscle  play, 

Or  how  shall  I  illustrate  muscle's  use  ?)  — 

I  could  then,  last  Jul}^,  bid  courier  take 

Message  for  me,  post-haste,  a  thousand  miles. 

I  bid  him,  since  I  have  the  right  to  bid  ; 

And,  my  part  done  so  far,  his  part  begins. 

He  starts  with  due  equipment,  will  and  power, 

Means  he  may  use,  misuse,  not  use  at  all^ 

At  his  discretion,  at  his  peril  too. 

I  leave  him  to  himself:  but,  journey  done, 

I  count  the  minutes,  call  for  the  result 

In  quickness  and  the  courier  quality, 

Weigh  its  worth,  and  then  punish  or  reward 

According  to  proved  service ;  not  before. 

Meantime  he  sleeps  through  noontide,  rides^ill  dawn, 

Sticks  to  the  straight  road,  tries  the  crooked  path, 

Measures  and  manages  resource,  trusts,_doubts_ 

Advisers  by  the  wayside,  does  his  best_ 

At  his  discretion,  lags,  or  launches  forth 

(He  knows  and  I  know)  at  his  peril  too. 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  171 

You  see?     Exactly  thus  men  stand  to  God,  — 

I  with  my  courier,  God  with  me.     Just  so 

I  have  his  bidding  to  perform  ;  but  mind 

And  body,  all  of  me,  though  made  and  meant 

For  that  sole  service,  must  consult,  concert, 

With  my  own  self,  and  nobody  beside, 

How  to  effect  the  same  :  God  helps  not  else. 

'Tis  I  who,  with  my  stock  of  craft  and  strength, 

Choose  the  directer  cut  across  the  hedge, 

Or  keep  the  foot-track  that  respects  a  crop  ; 

Lie  down  and  rest;  rise  up  and  run  ;  live  spare  ; 

Feed  freej_ —  all  that's  my  business  :  but  arrive, 

Dehver  message,  bring  the  answer  back, 

And  make  my  bow,  I  must ;  then  God  will  speak,  — 

Praise  me,  or  haply  blame,  as  service  proves. 

To  other  men,  to  each  and  every  one, 

Another  law  :  what  likelier  ?     God,  perchance, 

Grants  each  new  man,  by  some  as  new  a  mode, 

Intercommunication  with  himself, 

Wreaking  on  finiteness  infinitude  ; 

By  such  a  series  of  effects  gives  each 


172  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

Last  his  own  imprint :  old,  yet  ever  new, 

The  process  :  'tis  the  way  of  Deity. 

How  it  succeeds,  he  knows :  I  only  know 

That  varied  modes  of  creatureship  abound, 

Implying  just  as  varied  intercourse 

For  each  with  the  Creator  of  them  all. 

Each  has  his  own  mind,  and  no  other's  mode. 

What  mode  may  yours  be  ?     I  shall  sympathize. 

No  doubt,  you,  good  young  lady  that  you  are, 

Despite  a  natural  naughtiness  or  two, 

Turn  eyes  up  like  a  Pradier  Magdalen, 

And  see  an  outspread  providential  hand 

Above  the  owl's-wing  aigrette  —  guard  and  guide- 

Visibly  o'er  your  path,  about  your  bed. 

Through  all  your  practisings  with  London-town. 

It  points,  you  go  ;  it  stays  fixed,  and  you  stop  : 

You  quicken  its  procedure  by  a  word 

Spoken,  a  thought  in  silence,  prayer,  and  praise. 

Well,  I  believe  that  such  a  hand  may  stoop. 

And  such  appeals  to  it  may  stave  off  harm, 

Pacify  the  grim  guardian  of  this  square, 


SA  VIO UR   OF  SOCIE TV.  173 

And  stand  you  in  good  stead  on  quarter-day  : 

Quite  possible  in  your  case,  not  in  mine. 

"  Ah  !  but  I  clioose  to  make  the  difference, 

Find  the  emancipation?"     No,  I  hope. 

If  I  deceive  myself,  take  noon  for  night, 

Please  to  become  determinedly  blind 

To  the  true  ordinance  of  human  life 

Through  mere  presumption,  that  is  my  affair. 

And  truly  a  grave  one :  but  as  grave  I  think 

Your  affair,  —  yours,  the  specially  observed ; 

Each  favored  person  that  perceives  his  path 

Pointed  him  inch  by  inch,  and  looks  above 

For  guidance,  through  the  mazes  of  this  world, 

In  what  we  call  its  meanest  life-career,  — 

Not  Jaow  to  jjianage  Europe  properly. 

But  how  keep  open  shop,  and  yet  pay  rent. 

Rear  household,  and  make  both  ends  meet,  —  the  same, 

I  say,  such  man  is  no  less  tasked  than  I 

To  duly  take  the  path  appointed_him 

By  whatsoever  sign  he  recognize. 

Our  insincerity  on  both  our  heads  ! 


174  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

No  matter  what  the  object  of  a  life, 

Small  work  or  large,  —  the  making  thrive  a  shop, 

Or  seeing  that  an  empire  take  no  harm,  — 

There  are  known  fruits  to  judge  obedience  by. 

You've  read  a  ton's  weight,  now,  of  newspaper,  — 

Lives  of  me,  gabble  about  the  kind  of  prince : 

You  know  my  work  i'  the  rough  :   I  ask  you,  then, 

Do  I  appear  subordinated  less 

To  hand-impulsion,  one  prime  push  for  all, 

Than  little  lives  of  men,  the  multitude 

That  cried  out  ever}'  quarter  of  an  hour 

For  fresh  instructions,  did  or  did  not  work, 

And  praised  in  the  odd  minutes  ? 

Eh,  my  dear  ? 
Such  is  the  reason  why  I  acquiesced 
In  doing  what  seemed  best  for  me  to  do, 
So  as  to  please  myself  on  the  great  scale, 
Having  regard  to  immortality 
No  less  than  life ;  did  that  which  head  and  heart 
Prescribed  my  hand,  in  measure  with  its  means 
Of  doing ;  used  my  special  stock  of  power, 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  175 

Not  from  the  aforesaid  head  and  heart  alone, 

But  every  sort  of  helpful  circumstance, 

Some  problematic,  and  some  nondescript ; 

All  regulated  by  the  single  care 

r  the  last  resort, -»- that  I  made  thoroughly  serve 

The  when  and  how,  toiled  where  was  need,  reposed 

As  resolutely  to  the  proper  point. 

Braved  sorrow,  courted  joy,  to  just  one  end,  — 

Namely,  that  just  the  creature  I  was  bound 

To  be  I  should  become,  nor  thwart  at  all 

God's  purpose  in  creation.     I  conceive 

No  other  duty  possible  to  man, — 

Highest  mind,  lowest  mind,  —  no  other  law 

By  which  to  judge  life  failure  or  success. 

What  folks  call  being  saved  or  cast  away. 

Such  was  my  rule  of  life  :  I  worked  my  best, 
Subject  to  ultimate  judgment,  —  God's,  not  man's. 
Well,  then,  this  settled,  —  take  your  tea,  I  beg. 
And  meditate  the  fact  "twixt  sip  and  sip,  — 
This  settled,  —  why  I  pleased  myself,  you  saw. 


176  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

By  turning  blot  and  blot  into  a  line 

O'  the  little  scale,  —  we'll  try  now  (as  your  tongue 

Tries  the  concluding  sugar-drop)  what's  meant 

To  please  me  most  o'  the  great  scale.     Why,  just  now. 

With  nothing  else  to  do  within  my  reach, 

Did  I  prefer  making  two  blots  one  line 

To  making  j^et  another  separate 

Third  blot,  and  leaving  those  I  found  unlinked  ? 

It  meant,  I  Hke  to  use  the  things  I^nd, 

Rather  than  strive  at  unfound  novelty  : 

I  make  the  best  of  the  old,  nor  try  for  new. 

Such  will  to  act.  such  choice  of  action's  way. 

Constitute  —  when  at  work  on  the  great  scale. 

Driven  to  their  farthest  natural  consequence 

By  aU_theJielpJrom  all  the  nieans — my  own 

Particular  faculty  of  serving  God, 

Instinct  for  putting  power  to  exercise 

Upon  some  wish  and  want  o"  the  time,  I  prove 

Possible  to  mankind  as  best  I  may. 

This  constitutes  my  mission  (grant  the  phrase)  : 

Namely,  to  rule  men,  —  men  within  my  reach  ; 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  177 

To  order,  influence,  and  dispose  them  so 

As  render  solid,  and  stabilify 

Mankind  in  particles,  the  light  and  loose. 

For  their  good  and  my  pleasure  in  the  act. 

Such  good  accomplished  proves  twice  good  to  me,  — 

Good  for  its  own  sake,  as  the  just  and  right ; 

And,  in  the  effecting  also,  good  again 

To  me  its  agent,  tasked  as  suits  my  taste. 

Is  this  much  easy  to  be  understood 

At  first  glance  ?     Now  begin  the  steady  gaze. 

My  rank  (if  I  must  tell  you  simple  truth  : 
Telling  were  else  not  worth  the  whiff  o'  the  weed 
I  lose  for  the  tale's  sake),  dear,  my  rank  i'  the  world, 
Is  hard  to  know  and  name  precisely  :  err 
I  may,  but  scarcely  over-estimate 
My  style  and  title.     Do  I  class  with  men 
Most  useful  to  their  fellows  ?     Possibly, 
Therefore,  in  some  sort,  best ;  but  greatest  mind 
And  rarest  nature?     Evidently  no. 


ryS         PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHIVANGAU, 

A  conservator  calljne,  if  you  please, 

Not  a  creator  nor  destroyer,  — -one 

Who  keeps  the  world  safe.     I  profess  to  trace 

The  broken  circle  of  society  ; 

Dim  actual  order  I  can  redescribe, 

Not  only  where  some  segment  silver-true 

Stays  clear,  but  where  the  breaks  of  black  commence 

Baffling  you  all  who  want  the  eye  to  probe. 

As  I  make  out  yon  problematic  thin 

White  paring  of  your  thumb-nail  outside  there, 

Above  the  plaster  monarch  on  his  steed  ; 

See  an  inch  ;  name  an  ell  ;  and  prophesy 

O'  the  rest  that  ought  to  follow,  —  the  round  moon 

Now  hiding  in  the  night  of  things  :  that  round, 

I  labor  to  demonstrate  moon  enough 

For  the  month's  purpose  ;  that  society, 

Render  efficient  for  the  age's  need  : 

Preserving  you  in  either  case  the  old, 

Nor  aiming  at  a  new  and  greater  thing,  — 

A  sun  for  moon,  a  future  to  be  made 

By  first  abolishing  the  present  law  : 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  \1C) 

No  sucli  proud  task  for  me  by  any  means ! 
History  shows  you  men  whose  master-touch 
Not  so  much  modifies  as  makes  anew,  — 
Minds  that  transmute,  nor  need  restore  at  all. 
A  breath  of  God  made  manifest  in  flesh 
Subjects  the  world  to  change  from  time  to  time ; 
Alters  the  whole  conditions  of  our  race 
Abruptly,  not  by  unperceived  degrees, 
Nor  play  of  elements  already  there, 
But  quite  new  leaven,  leavening  the  lump. 
And  liker,  so,  the  natural  process.     See  ! 
Where  ^^'^inter  reigned  for  ages,  —  by  a  turn 
I'  the  time,  some  star-change  (ask  geologists). 
The  ice-tracts  split,  clash,  splinter,  and  disperse, 
And  there's  an  end  of  immobility, 
Silence,  and  all  that  tinted  pageant,  base 
To  pinnacle,  one  flush  from  fairy-land 
Dead-asleep  and  deserted  somewhere,  —  see  !  — 
As  a  fresh  sun,  wave,  spring,  and  joy  outburst. 
Or  else  the  earth  it  is,  time  starts  from  trance, 
Her  mountains  tremble  into  fire,  her  plains 


I  So  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWAKGAU, 

Heave  blinded  by  confusion  :  what  result  ? 

New  teeming  growth,  surprises  of  strange  life 

Impossible  before,  a  world  broke  up 

And  re-made,  order^ained  by  law  destroyed. 

Not  otherwise,  in  our  society, 

Follow  like  portents,  all  as  absolute 

Regenerations  :  they  have  birth  at  rare, 

Uncertain,  unexpected  inter\^als 

O'  the  world,  by  ministry  impossible 

Before  and  after  fulness  of  the  days  : 

Some  dervis  desert-spectre,  swordsman,  saint. 

Law-giver,  lyrist,  —  oh  !  we  know  the  names. 

Quite  other  these  than  I.     Our  time  requires 

No  such  strange  potentate,  —  who  else  would  dawn, 

No  fresh  force  till  the  old  have  spent  itself. 

Such  seems  the  natural  economy. 

To  shoot  a  beam  into  the  dark  assists  : 

To  make  that  beam  do  fuller  service,  spread 

And  utilize  such  bounty  to  the  height,  — 

That  assists  also  ;  and  that  work  is  mine. 

I  recognize,  contemplate,  and  approve 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  i8i 

The  general  compact  of  society, 

Not  simply  as  I  see  effected  good, 

But  good  i'  the  germ,  each  chance  that's  possible 

r  the  plan  traced  so  far;  all  results,  in  short. 

For  better  or  worse  of  the  operation  due 

To  those  exceptional  natures,  unlike  mine. 

Who,  helping,  thwarting,  conscious,  unaware, 

Did  somehow  manage  to  so  far  describe 

This  diagram  left  ready  to  my  hand, 

Waiting  my  turn  of  trial.     I  see  success, 

See  failure,  see  what  makes  or  mars  throughout. 

How  shall  I  else  but  help  complete  this  plan. 

Of  which  I  know  the  purpose,  and  approve, 

By  letting  stay  therein  what  seems  to  stand. 

And  adding  good  thereto  of  easier  reach 

To-day  than  yesterday  ? 

So  much,  no  more  ' 
\Miereon,  "  No  more  than  that  ? "  inquire  aggrieved 
Half  of  my  critics  :  "  nothing  new  at  all  ? 
The  old  plan  saved,  instead  of  a  sponged  slate 


[82  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

And  fresh-drawn  figure  ? "     While,  "  So  much  as  that  ? " 

Object  their  fellows  of  the  other  faith  : 

"  Leave  uneffaced  the  crazy  labyrinth 

Of  alteration  and  amendment,  lines 

"Which  every  dabster  felt  in  duty  bound 

To  signalize  his  power  of  pen  and  ink 

By  adding  to  a  plan  once  plain  enough  ? 

Why  keep  each  fool's  bequeathment,  scratch  and  blur 

Which  overscrawl  and  underscore  the  piece  ; 

Nay,  strengthen  them  by  touches  of  your  own  ? " 

Well,  that's  my  mission,  so  I  serve  the  world. 

Figure  as  man  o'  the  moment,  —  in  default 

Of  somebody  inspired  to  strike  such  change 

Into  society,  — from  round  to  square. 

The  ellipsis  to  the  rhomboid, —  how  you  please, 

As  suits  the  size  and  shape  o'  the  world  he  finds. 

But  this  I  can,  —  and  nobody  my  peer,  — 

Do  the  best  with  the  least  change  possible ; 

Carry  the  incompleteness  on  a  stage  ; 

Make  what  was  crooked  straight,  and  roughness  smooth, 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  1 83 

And  weakness  strong :  wherein  if  I  succeed, 
It  will  not  prove  the  worst  achievement,  sure, 
In  the  ej-es  at  least  of  one  man,  —  one  I  look 
Nowise  to  catch  in  critic  company  ; 
l"o  wit,  the  man  inspired,  the  genius'  self, 
J3estined  to  come  and  change  things  thoroughly. 
He,  at  least,  finds  his  business  simplified. 
Distinguishes  the  done  from  undone,  reads 
Plainly  what  meant  and  did  not  mean  this  time 
We  live  hi,  and  I  work  on,  and  transmit 
To  such  successor  :  he  will  operate 
On  good  hard  substance,  not  mere  shade  and  shine. 
Let  all  my  critics,  born  to  idleness 
And  impotency,  get  their  good,  and  have 
Their  hooting  at  the  giver :  I  am  deaf. 
Who  find  great  good  in  this  society. 
Great  gain,  the  purchase  of  great  labor      Touch 
The  work  I  may  and  must,  but  —  reverent 
In  every  fall  o'  the  finger-tip,  no  doubt. 
Perhaps  I  find  all  good  there's  warrant  for 
r  the  world  as  yet :  nay,  to  the  end  of  time  ; 


l84         PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

Since  evil  never  means  part  company 

Witli  mankind,  only  shift  side  and  change  shape. 

I  find  advance  i'  the  main,  and  notably 

The  Present  an  improvement  on  the  Past, 

And  promise  for  the  Future,  which  shall  prove 

Only  the  Present  with  its  rough  made  smooth, 

Its  indistinctness  emphasized  :  I  hope 

No  better,  nothing  newer,  for  mankind, 

But  something  equably  smoothed  everywhere,  — 

Good,  reconciled  with  hardly-quite-as-good. 

Instead  of  good  and  bad  each  jostling  each. 

"  And  that's  all  ? "     Ay,  and  quite  enough  for  me  ! 

We  have  toiled  so  long  to  gain  what  gain  I  find 

I'  the  Present,  let  us  keep  it !     We  shall  toil 

So  long  before  we  gain,  if  gain  God  grant, 

A  Future  with  one  touch  of  difference 

I'  the  heart  of  things,  and  not  their  outside  face, 

Let  us  not  risk  the  whiff  of  my  cigar 

For  Fourier,  Comte,  and  all  that  ends  in  smoke ! 

This  I  see  clearest  probably  of  men, 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  1 85 

With  power  to  act  and  influence,  now  alive  : 

Juster  than  they  to  the  true  state  of  things  ; 

In  consequence,  more  tolerant,  that,  side 

By  side,  shall  co-exist,  and  thrive  alike 

In  the  age,  the  various  sorts  of  happiness 

Moral,  mark  !  —  not  material,  —  moods  o'  the  mind 

Suited  to  man  and  man  his  opposite  : 

Say,  minor  modes  of  movement,  —  hence  to  there, 

Or  thence  to  here,  or  simply  round  about,  — 

So  long  as  each  toe  spares  its  neighbor's  kibe, 

Nor  spoils  the  major  march  and  main  advance. 

The  love  of  peace,  care  for  the  family. 

Contentment  with  what's  bad,  but  might  be  worse,  — 

Good  movements  these  !  and  good,  too,  discontent, 

SoJong_asJlmt  spurs  good,  which  might  be  best. 

Into  becorning  better  anyhow  : 

Good, — pride  of  country,  putting  hearth  and  home 

r  the  background,  out  of  undue  prominence  ; 

Good,  —  y^earning  after  ch_ange,  strife,  victory, 

AiKiJriugiph.     Each  shall  have  its  orbit  marked, 

But  no  more,  —  none  impede  the  other's  path 


l86  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

[n  this  wide  world  ;  though  each  and  all  alike, 

Save  for  me,  fain  would  spread  itself  through  space, 

And  leave  its  fellow  not  an  inch  of  way. 

I  rule  and  regulate  the  course,  excite, 

Restrain  ;  because  the  whole  machine  should  march 

Impelled  by  those  diversely-moving  parts. 

Each  blind  to  aught  beside  its  little  bent. 

Out  of  the  turnings  round  and  round  inside 

Comes  that  straightforward  world-advance  I  want, 

And  none  of  them  supposes  God  wants  too. 

And  gets  through  just  their  hinderance  and  my  help. 

I  think  that  to  have  held  the  balance  straight 

For  twenty  years,  say,  weighing  claim  and  claim, 

And  giving  each  its  due,  no  less,  no  more,  — 

This  was  good  service  to  humanity. 

Right  usage  of  my  power  in  head  and  heart, 

And  reasonable  piety  beside. 

Keep  those  three  points  in  mind  while  judging  me. 

You  stand,  perhaps,  for  some  one  man,  not  men  ; 

Represent  this  or  the  other  interest,  • 

Nor  mind  the  general  welfare ;  so,  impugn 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  187 

My  practice,  and  dispute  my  value  :  why  ? 

You  man  of  faith,  I  did  not  tread  the  world 

Into  a  paste,  and  thereof  make  a  smooth 

Uniform  mound  whereon  to  plant  your  flag, 

The  lily-white,  above  the  blood  and  brains  ; 

Nor  yet  did  I,  you  man  of  faithlessness, 

So  roll  things  to  the  level  which  you  love, 

That  you  could  stand  at  ease  there,  and  survey 

The  universal  Nothing  undisgraced 

By  pert  obtrusion  of  some  old  church-spire 

I'  the  distance.     Neither  friend  would  I  content ; 

Nor,  as  the  world  were  simply  meant  for  him, 

Thrust  out  his  fellow,  and  mend  God's  mistake. 

Why,  you  two  fools,  —  my  dear  friends  all  the  same,  — 

Is  it  some  change  o'  the  world,  and  nothing  else, 

Contents  you  ?     Should  whatever  was,  not  be  ? 

How  thanklessly  you  view  things  !     There's  the  root 

Of  the  evil,  source  of  the  entire  mistake  : 

You  see  no  worth  i'  the  world,  nature,  and  life. 

Unless  we  change  what  is  to  what  may  be  ; 

Which  means,  —  may  be  i'  the  brain  of  one  of  you  ! 


1 8  8  PR  IXC E  HOHENS  TIEL-SCflWA  NGA  U, 

"  Reject  what  is  ?  "  —  all  capabilities,  — 

Nay,  you  may  style  them  chances  if  you  choose,  — 

All  chances,  then,  of  happiness  that  lie 

Open  to  anybody  that  is  born, 

Tumbles  into  this  life  and  out  again,  — 

All  that  may  happen,  good  and  evil  too, 

I'  the  space  between,  to  each  adventurer 

Upon  this  'sixt\%  Anno  Domini : 

A  life  to  live,  —  and  such  a  life  !  a  world 

To  learn,  one's  lifetime  in,  —  and  such  a  world  ! 

How  ever  did  the  foolish  pass  for  wise 

By  calling  life  a  burden,  man  a  fiy 

Or  worm,  or  what's  most  insignificant  ? 

"  O  littleness  of  man  !  "  deplores  the  bard  ; 

And  then,  for  fear  the  Powers  should  punish  him, 

"  O  grandeur  of  the  visible  universe 

Our  human  litdeness  contrasts  withal  ! 

O  sun,  O  moon,  ye  mountains,  and  thou  sea. 

Thou  emblem  of  immensity,  thou  this. 

That,  and  the  other  !  —  what  impertinence 

In  man  to  eat  and  drink  and  walk  about, 


SAVIOUR    OF  SOCIETY.  189 

And  have  his  little  notions  of  his  own, 

The  while  some  wave  sheds  foam  upon  the  shore  !  " 

First  of  all,  'tis  a  lie  some  three  times  thick : 

The  bard,  — this  sort  of  speech  being  poetry, — 

The  bard  puts  mankind  well  outside  himself, 

And  then  begins  instructing  them  :  "  This  way 

I  and  my  friend  the  sea  conceive  of  you  ! 

What  would  you  give  to  think  such  thoughts  as  ours 

Of  you  and  the  sea  together  ?  "     Down  they  go 

On  the  humbled  knees  of  them  :  at  once  they  draw 

Distinction,  recognize  no  mate  of  theirs 

In  one,  despite  his  mock  humility, 

So  plain  a  match  for  what  he  plays  with.     Next 

The  turn  of  the  great  ocean-playfellov»-, 

When  the  bard,  leaving  Bond  Street  very  far 

From  ear-shot,  cares  not  to  ventriloquize. 

But  tells  the  sea  its  home-truths  :  "  You,  my  match  ? 

You,  all  this  terror  and  immensity, 

And  what  not  ?     Shall  I  tell  you  what  you  are  ? 

Just  fit  to  hitch  into  a  stanza :  so 

Wake  up  and  set  in  motion  who's  asleep 


icjo  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

O'  the  other  side  of  you,  in  England,  else 
Unaware,  as  folk  pace  their  Bond  Street  now, 
Somebody  here  despises  them  so  much  ! 
Between  us,  —  they  are  the  ultimate  !  to  them 
And  their  perception  go  these  lordly  thoughts  : 
Since  what  were  ocean,  —  mane  and  tail  to  boot,  — 
Mused  I  not  here,  how  make  thoughts  thinkable  ? 
Start  forth  my  stanza,  and  astound  the  world  ! 
Back,  billows,  to  your  insignificance  ! 
Deep,  you  are  done  with  !  " 

Learn,  my  gifted  friend, 
There  are  two  things  i'  the  world,  still  wiser  folk 
Accept,  —  intelligence  and  sympathy. 
You  pant  about  unutterable  power 
I'  the  ocean,  all  you  feel  but  cannot  speak  ? 
Why,  that's  the  plainest  Ispeech  about  it  all : 
You  did  not  feel  what  was  not  to  be  felt. 
Well,  then,  all  else  but  what  man  feels  is  nought,  — 
The  wash  o'  the  liquor  that  o'erbrims  the  cup 
Called  man,  and  runs  to  waste  adown  his  side, 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  191 

Perhaps  to  feed  a  cataract  :  who  cares  ? 
I'll  tell  you  :  all  the  more  I  know  mankind, 
The  more  I  thank  God,  like  my  grandmother, 
For  making  me  a  little  lower  than 
The  angels,  honor-clothed  and  glorv-crowned. 


This  is  the  honor,  —  that  no  thing  I  know, 
Feel,  or  conceive,  but  I  can  make  my  own 
Somehow,  by  use  of  hand  or  head  or  heart : 
This  is  the  glon',  —  that  in  all  conceived. 
Or  felt  or  known,  I  recognize  a  mind 
Not  mine,  but  like  mine,  —  for  the  double  joy,  — 
Making  all  things  for  me,  and  me  for  Him. 
There's  folly  for  you  at  this  time  of  day  ! 
f  So  think  it !  and  enjoy  your  ignorance 
1  Of  what  —  no  matter  for  the  worthy's  name  — 
I  Wisdom  set  working  in  a  noble  heart, 
I  When  he,  who  was  earth's  best  geometer 
\  Up  to  that  time  of  day,  consigned  his  life 
(  With  its  results  into  one  matchless  book,  — 
I   The  triumph  of  the  human  mind  so  far, 
■;  A.11  in  geometry  man  yet  could  do,  — 


192  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

\  And  then  wrote  on  the  dedication-page, 
In  place  of  name  the  universe  applauds, 
i"  But,  God,  what  a  geometer  art  thou  !  " 
I  suppose  heaven  is,  through  eternity, 
The  equalizing,  ever  and  anon. 
In  momentary  rapture,  great  with  small, 
Omniscience  with  intelligency,  God 
With  man,  — the  thunder-glow  from  pole  to  pole 
Abolishing,  a  blissful  moment-space. 
Great  cloud  alike  and  small  cloud,  in  one  fire,  — 
As  sure  to  ebb  as  sure  again  to  flow 
When  the  new  receptivity  deserves 
The  new  completion.     There's  the  heaven  for  me. 
And  I  sa}',  therefore,  to  live  out  one's  life 
r  the  world  here,  with  the  chance  —  whether  by  pain 
Or  pleasure  be  the  process,  long  or  short 
The  time,  august  or  mean  the  circumstance 
To  human  eye  —  of  learning  how  set  foot 
Decidedly  on  some  one  path  to  heaven, 
Touch  one  point  in  the  circle  whence  all  lines 
Lead  to  the  centre  equally,  —  red  lines 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  193 

Or  black  lines,  so  they  but  produce  themselves,  — 
This,  I  do  say,  —  and  here  my  sermon  ends,  — 
This  makes  it  worth  our  while  to  tenderly 
Handle  a  state  of  things  which  mend  we  might. 
Mar  we  may,  but  which  meanwhile  helps  so  far. 
Therefore  my  end  is,  save  society. 

"  And  that's  all  ?"  twangs  the  never-railing  taunt 
O'  the  foe.     "  No  novelty,  creativeness, 
Mark  of  the  master  that  renews  the  age  ? " 
"  Nay,  all  that  ?  "  rather  will  demur  my  judge 
I  look  to  hear  some  day,  —  nor  friend  nor  foe,  — 
"  Did  you  attain,  then,  to  perceive  that  God 
Knew  what  he  undertook  when  he  made  things  ?  " 
Ay :  that  my  task  was  to  co-operate 
Rather  than  play  the  rival,  chop  and  change 
The  order  whence  comes  all  the  good  we  know, 
With  this,  —  good's  last  expression  to  our  sense,  — 
That  there's  a  further  good  conceivable 
Beyond  the  utmost  earth  can  realize ; 


194  PRINCE  HOHENSTI EL-SCHWA NGAU, 

And,  therefore,  that  to  change  the  agency, 

The  evil  whereby  good  is  brought  about,  — 

Try  to  make  good  do  good  as  evil  does,  — 

Were  just  as  if  a  chemist,  wanting  white. 

And  knowing  black  ingredients  bred  the  dye, 

Insisted  these,  too,  should  be  white  forsooth. 

Correct  the  evil,  mitigate  your  best. 

Blend  mild  with  harsh,  and  soften  black  to  gray 

If  gray  may  follow  with  no  detriment 

To  the  eventual  perfect  purity ; 

But  as  for  hazarding  the  main  result 

By  hoping  to  anticipate  one-half 

In  the  intermediate  process,  —  no,  my  friends  ! 

This  bad  world  I  experience  and  approve  : 

Your  good  world,  —  with  no  pity,  courage,  hope, 

Fear,  sorrow,  joy,  devotedness,  in  short, 

Which  I  account  the  ultimate  of  man. 

Of  which  there's  not  one  day  nor  hour  but  brings, 

In  flower  or  fruit,  some  sample  of  success 

Out  of  this  same  society  I  save,  — 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  1 95 

None  of  it  for  me  !     That  I  might  have  none, 
I  rapped  your  tampering  knuckles  twenty  years : 
Such  was  the  task  imposed  me,  such  my  end. 

Now  for  the  means  thereto.     Ah,  confidence ! 

Keep  we  together,  or  part  company  ? 

This  is  the  critical  minute.     "  Such  my  end  ? " 

Certainly  :  how  could  it  be  otherwise  ? 

Can  there  be  question  which  was  the  right  task, — 

To  save,  or  to  destroy,  society  ? 

Why,  even  prove,  that,  by  some  miracle, 

Destruction  were  the  proper  work  to  choose. 

And  that  a  torch  best  remedies  what's  wrong 

I'  the  temple,  whence  the  long  procession  wound 

Of  powers  and  beauties,  earth's  achievements  all,  — 

The  human  strength  that  strove  and  overthrew  ; 

The  human  love,  that,  weak  itself,  crowned  strength ; 

The  instinct,  crying,  "  God  is  whence  I  came  ! " 

The  reason  laying  down  the  law,  "  And  such 

His  will  i'  the  world  must  be  !  "  the  leap  and  shout 

Of  genius,  "  For  I  hold  his  very  thoughts, 


196         PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

The  meaning  of  the  mind  of  him  !  "  nay,  more, 

The  ingenuities  ;  each  active  force, 

That,  turning  in  a  circle  on  itself, 

Looks  neither  up  nor  down,  but  keeps  the  spot, 

Mere  creature-like,  and,  for  religion,  works, 

Works  only  and  works  ever,  makes  and  shapes 

And  changes,  still  wrings  more  of  good  from  less, 

Still  stamps  some  bad  out  where  was  worst  before, 

So  leaves  the  handiwork,  the  act  and  deed. 

Were  it  but  house  and  land  and  wealth,  to  show 

Here  was  a  creature  perfect  in  the  kind,  — 

Whether  as  bee,  beaver,  or  behemoth, 

"Wliat's  the  importance  ?  he  has  done  his  work 

For   work's   sake,    worked    well,    earned    a    creature's 

praise,  — 
I  say,  concede  that  same  fane,  whence  deploys. 
Age  after  age,  all  this  humanity. 
Diverse  but  ever  dear,  out  of  the  dark 
Behind  the  altar  into  the  broad  day 
By  the  portal  ;  enter,  and  concede  there  mocks 
Each  lover  of  free  motion  and  much  space 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  197 

A  perplexed  length  of  apse  and  aisle  and  nave,  — 

Pillared  roof  and  carved  screen,  and  what  care  I  ?  — 

That  irk  die  movement,  and  impede  the  march  ; 

Nay,  possibly,  bring  flat  upon  his  nose 

At  some  odd  break-neck  angle,  by  some  freak 

Of  old-world  artistry,  that  personage, 

Who,  could  he  but  have  kept  his  skirts  from  grief, 

And,  catching  at  the  hooks  and  crooks  about, 

Had  stepped  out  on  the  daylight  of  our  time 

Plainly  the  man  of  the  age,  —  still,  still,  I  bar 

Excessive  conflagration  in  the  case. 

"  Shake  the  flame  freely !  "  shout  the  multitude  : 

The  architect  approves  I  stuck  my  torch 

Inside  a  good  stout  lantern,  hung  its  light 

Above  the  hooks  and  crooks,  and  ended  so. 

To  save  society  was  well :  the  means 

Whereby  to  save  it,  —  there  begins  the  doubt 

Permitted  you,  imperative  on  me. 

Were  mine  the  best  means  ?     Did  I  Avork  aright 

With  powers  appointed  me  ?  since  powers  denied     '>^'' 

Concern  me  nothing. 


iqS       prince  hohenstiel-schwangau. 

Well,  my  work,  reviewed 
Fairly,  leaves  more  hope  than  discouragement. 
First,  there's  the  deed  done  :  what  I  found  I  leave  ; 
\\'hat  tottered  I  kept  stable  :  if  it  stand 
One  month  without  sustainment,  still  thank  me, 
The  twenty  years'  sustainer  !     Now,  obser\-e, 
Sustaining  is  no  brilliant  self-display. 
Like  knocking  down,  or  even  setting  up. 
Much  bustle  these  necessitate  ;  and  still, 
To  vulgar  eye,  the  mightier  of  the  myth 
Is  Hercules,  who  substitutes  his  own 
For  Atlas'  shoulder,  and  supports  the  globe 
A  whole  day,  —  not  the  passive  and  obscure 
Atlas  who  bore  ere  Hercules  was  born, 
And  is  to  go  on  bearing  that  same  load 
When  Hercules  turns  ash  on  QEta's  top. 
'Tis  the  transition-stage,  the  tug  and  strain. 
That  strike  men  :  standing  still  is  stupid-like. 
My  pressure  was  too  constant  on  the  whole 
For  any  part's  eruption  into  space 
'Mid  sparkles,  crackling,  and  much  praise  of  me. 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  199 

I  saw,  that,  in  the  ordinary  life, 

Many  of  the  Httle  makes  a  mass  of  men 

Important  beyond  greatness  here  and  there  ; 

As  certainly  as,  in  life  exceptional, 

When  old  things  terminate,  and  riew  commence, 

A  solitary  great  man's  worth  the  world. 

God  takes  the  business  into  his  own  hands 

At  such  time  :  who  creates  the  novel  flower 

Contrives  to  guard,  and  give  it  breathing-room  : 

I  merely  tend  the  corn-field,  care  for  crop. 

And  weed  no  acre  thin  to  let  emerge 

What  prodigy  may  stifle  there  perchance  ; 

No,  though  my  eye  have  noted  where  he  lurks. 

Oh  those  mute  myriads  that  spoke  loud  to  me  !  — 

The  eyes  that  craved  to  see  the  light  ;  the  mouths 

That  sought  the  daily  bread,  and  nothing  more  ; 

The  hands  that  supplicated  exercise  ; 

Men  that  had  wives,  and  women  that  had  babes  ; 

And  all  these  making  suit  to  only  live  1 

Was  I  to  turn  aside  from  husbandry. 

Leave  hope  of  harvest  for  the  corn,  my  care, 


zoo  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

To  play  at  horticulture,  rear  some  rose 
Or  poppy  into  perfect  leaf  and  bloom, 
When,  'mid  the  furrows,  up  was  pleased  to  sprout 
Some  man,  cause,  system,  special  interest 
I  ought  to  study,  stop  the  world  meanwhile  ? 
'•  But  I  am  liberty,  philanthropy, 
Enlightenment,  or  patriotism,  the  power 
Whereby  you  are  to  stand  or  fall !  "  cries  each  : 
"  Mine,  and  mine  only,  be  the  flag  you  flaunt ! " 
And  when  I  venture  to  object,  "  Meantime, 
What  of  yon  myriads  with  no  flag  at  all,  — 
My  crop,  which  who  flaunts  flag  must  tread  across  ?  " 
"  Now,  this  it  is  to  have  a  puny  mind  !  " 
Admire  my  mental  prodigies  :  "  down,  down, 
Ever  at  home  o'  the  level  and  the  low, 
There  bides  he  brooding  !    Could  he  look  above, 
With  less  of  the  owl,  and  more  of  the  eagle  eye, 
He'd  see  there's  no  way  helps  the  little  cause 
Like  the  attainment  of  the  great.     Dare  first 
The  chief  emprise  ;  dispel  yon  cloud  between 
riie  sun  and  us  ;  nor  fear,  that,  though  our  heads 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  2 

Find  earlier  \Yarmth  and  comfort  from  his  ray, 

What  lies  about  our  feet,  the  multitude, 

U'ill  fail  of  benefaction  presently. 

Come,  now,  let  each  of  us  a  while  cry  truce 

'!o  special  interests  ;  make  common  cause 

Against  the  adversary  ;  or  perchance 

Mere  dullard  to  his  own  plain  interest ! 

Which  of  us  will  you  choose  ?     Since  needs  must  be 

Some  one  o'  the  warring  causes  you  incline 

To  hold,  i'  the  main,  has  right,  and  should  prevail, 

Why  not  adopt  and  give  it  prevalence  ? 

Choose  strict  faith  or  lax  incredulit}',  — 

King,  caste,  and  cultus,  — or  the  rights  of  man, 

Sovereignt}^  of  each  Proudhon  o'er  himself. 

And  all  that  follows  in  just  consequence  ; 

Go  free  the  stranger  from  a  foreign  yoke  ; 

Or  stay,  concentrate  energ}'  at  home  ; 

Succeed  !  —  when  he  deserves,  the  stranger  will  ; 

Comply  with  the  great  nation's  impulse,  print 

By  force  of  arms,  —  since  reason  pleads  in  vain, 

And,  'mid  the  sweet  compulsion,  pity  weeps,  — 


202  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

Hohenstiel-Schwangau  on  the  universe  ! 

Snub  the  Great  Nation,  cure  the  impulsive  itch 

With  smartest  fillip  on  a  restless  nose 

Was  ever  launched  by  thumb  and  finger  !     Bid 

Hohenstiel-Schwangau  first  repeal  the  tax 

On  pig-tails  and  pomatum,  and  then  mind 

Abstruser  matters  for  next  century  ! 

Is  your  choice  made  ?    Why,  then,  act  up  to  choice  ! 

Leave  the  illogical  touch,  now  here,  now  there, 

I'  the  way  of  work  ;  the  tantalizing  help 

First  to  this,  then  the  other  opposite  \ 

The  blowing  hot  and  cold,  sham  policy. 

Sure  ague  of  the  mind,  and  nothing  more, 

Disease  of  the  perception  or  the  will, 

That  fain  would  hide  in  a  fine  name  !     Your  choice  ; 

Speak  it  out,  and  condemn  yourself  thereby  !  " 

Well,  Leicester  Square  is  not  the  Residenz  : 
Instead  of  shrugging  shoulder,  turning  friend 
The  deaf  ear  with  a  wink  to  the  police, 
I'll  answer  —  by  a  question,  wisdom's  mode. 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  203 

How  many  years,  o'  the  average,  do  men 

Liv^e  in  this  world  ?     Some  score,  say  computists. 

Quintuple  me  that  term,  and  give  mankind 

The  likely  hundred,  and  with  all  my  heart 

I'll  take  your  task  upon  me,  work  your  way, 

Concentrate  energy  on  some  one  cause ; 

Since,  counsellor,  I  also  have  my  cause, 

My  flag,  my  faith  in  its  effect,  my  hope 

In  its  eventful  triumph  for  the  good 

O'  the  world.     And  once  upon  a  time,  when  I 

Was  like  all  you,  —  mere  voice,  and  nothing  more,  — 

Myself  took  wings,  soared  sunward,  and  thence  sajig, 

"  Look  where  I  live  i'  the  loft !  come  up  to  me, 

Groundlings,  nor  grovel  longer !  gain  this  height, 

And  prove  you  breathe  here  better  than  below  ! 

Why,  what  emancipation  far  and  wide 

Will  follow  in  a  trice  !     They  too  can  soar, 

Each  tenant  of  the  earth's  circumference 

Claiming  to  elevate  humanity  ; 

They  also  must  attain  such  altitude, 

Live  in  the  luminous  circle  that  surrounds 


2  04  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

The  planet,  not  the  leaden  orb  itself. 

Press  out,  each  point,  from  surface  to  yon  verge 

Which  one  has  gained  and  guaranteed  your  realm  " 

Ay,  still  my  fragments  wander,  music-fraught, 

Sighs  of  the  soul,  mine  once,  mine  now,  and  mine 

Forever  !     Crumbled  arch,  crushed  aqueduct, 

Alive  with  tremors  in  the  shagg}'  growth 

Of  wildwood,  crevice-sown,  that  triumphs  there, 

Imparting  exultation  to  the  hills  ! 

Sweep  oX  the  swath  when  only  the  winds  walk, 

An^^aft  my  words  above  the  grassy  sea 

Under  the  blinding  blue  that  basks^er  Rome,  — 

Hear  ye  not  still,  "  Be  Italy  again  "  ? 

And  ye  —  what  strikes  the  panic  to  your  heart? 

Decrepit  council-chambers,  where  some  lamp 

Drives  the  unbroken  black  three  paces  off 

From  where  the  graybeards  huddle  in  debate. 

Dim  cowls  and  capes,  and  midmost  glimmers  one 

Like  tarnished  gold,  and  what  they  say  is^doubt, 

And  what  they  think  is  fear,  and  what  suspends 

The  breath  in  them  is  not  the  plaster-patch 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  205 

Time  disengages  from  the  painted  wall 

Where  Raphael  moulderingly  bids  adieu, 

Nor  tick  of  the  insect  turning  tapestry 

To  dust,  which  a  queen's  finger  traced  of  old  j 

But  some  word,  resonant,  redoubtable, 

Of  who  once  felt  upon  his  head  a  hand 

Whereof  the  head  now  apprehends  his  foot. 

"  Light  in  Rome,  law  in  Rome,  and  liberty 

O'  the  soul  in  Rome,  —  the  free  Church,  the  free  State! 

Stamp  out  the  nature  that's  best  typified 

By  its  embodiment  in  Peter's  dome, 

The  scorpion-body  with  the  greedy  pair 

Of  outstretched  nippers,  either  colonnade 

Agape  for  the  advance  of  heads  and  hearts  !  " 

There's  one  cause  for  you  !  —  one,  and  only  one  ; 

For  I  am  vocal  through  the  universe, 

I'  the  work-shop,  manufactor}^,  exchange 

And  market-place,  seaport  and  custom-house, 

O'  the  frontier :  listen  if  the  echoes  die  :  — 

"  Unfettered  commerce  !     Power  to  speak  and  hear, 

And  print  and  read  !     The  universal  vote  ! 


2o6         PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

Its  rights  for  labor !  "     This,  with  much  beside, 

I  spoke  when  I  was  voice,  and  nothing  more, 

But  altogether  such  a  one  as  you 

My  censors.     "  Voice,  and  nothing  more,  indeed  !  " 

Re-echoes  round  me  :  "  that's  the  censure  ;  there's 

Involved  the  ruin  of  you  soon  or  late ! 

Voice,  —  when  its  promise  beat  the  empt}-  air  ; 

And  nothing  more,  —  when  solid  earth's  your  stage, 

And  we  desiderate  performance,  deed 

For  word,  the  realizing  all  you  dreamed 

In  the  old  days  :  now,  for  deed,  we  find  at  door 

O'  the  council-chamber  posted,  mute  as  mouse, 

Hohenstiel-Schwangau,  sentry  and  safeguard 

O'  the  graybeards  all  a-chuckle,  cowl  to  cape. 

Who  challenge  Judas  —  that's  endearment's  style  — 

To  stop  their  mouths,  or  let  escape  grimace. 

While  they  keep  cursing  Italy  and  him. 

The  power  to  speak,  hear,  print,  and  read,  is  ours  ? 

Av,  we  learn  where  and  how,  when  clapped  inside 

A  convict-transport  bound  for  cool  Cayenne  ! 

The  universal  vote  we  have  ;  its  urn 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  207 

V¥e  also  have,  where  votes  drop,  fingered  o'er 

By  the  universal  prefect.     Say,  Trade's  free, 

And  Toil  turned  master  out  o'  the  slave  it  was  : 

What  then  ?     These  feed  man's  stomach  ;  but  his  sou. 

Craves  finer  fare,  nor  lives  by  bread  alone, 

As  somebody  says  somewhere.     Hence  you  stand 

Proved  and  recorded  either  false  or  weak. 

Faulty  in  promise  or  performance  :  which  ?  " 

Neither,  I  hope.     Once  pedestalled  on  earth, 

To  act,  not  speak,  I  found  earth  was  not  air. 

I  saw  that  multitude  of  mine,  and  not 

The  nakedness  and  nullity  of  air, 

Fit  only  for  a  voice  to  float  in  free. 

Such  eyes  I  saw  that  craved  the  light  alone  ! 

Such  mouths  that  wanted  bread,  and  nothing^ else  ! 

Such  hands  that  supplicatedhandiwork  ! 

Men  with  the  wives,  and  women  with  the  babes ; 

Yet  all  these  pleading  just  to  live,  not  die  ! 

Did  I  believe  one  whit  less  in  belief. 

Take  truth  for  falsehood,  wish  the  voice  revoked 

That  told  the  truth  to  heaven  for  earth  to  hear  ? 


2o8  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU. 

No  :  this  should  be,  and  shall ;  but  when  and  how  * 

At  what  expense  to  these  who  average 

Your  twenty  years  of  life,  my  computists  ? 

"  Not  bread  alone,"  but  bread  before  all  else, 

For  these  :  the  bodily  want  serve  first,  said  I  : 

If  earth-space  and  the  lifetime  help  not  here, 

Where  is  the  good  of  body  having  been  ? 

But  helping  body,  if  we  somewhat  balk 

The  soul  of  finer  fare,  such  food's  to  find 

Elsewhere  and  afterward,  —  all  indicates, 

Even  this  selfsame  fact,  —  that  soul  can  starve, 

Yet  body_still  exist  its  twenty  years  : 

While,  stint  the  body,  there's  an  end  at  once 

O'  the  revel  in  the  fancy  that  Rome's  free, 

And  superstition's  fettered,  and  one  prints 

Whate'er  one  pleases,  and  who  pleases  reads 

The  same,  and  speaks  out,  and  is  spoken  to  ; 

And  divers  hundred  thousand  fools  may  vote 

A  vote  untampered  with  by  one  wise  man, 

And  so  elect  Barabbas  deputy 

In  lieu  of  his  concurrent.     I,  who  trace 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  209 

The  purpose  written  on  the  face  of  things 

For  my  behoof  and  guidance  (whoso  needs 

No  such  sustainment,  sees  beneath  my  signs, 

Proves  what  I  take  for  writing,  penmanship, 

Scribble,  and  flourish  with  no  sense  for  me 

O'  the  sort  I  solemnly  go  spelling  out : 

Let  him  !  there's  certain  work  of  mine  to  show 

Alongside  his  work  ;  which  gives  warranty 

Of  shrewder  vision  in  the  workman,  judge  !),  — 

I,  who  trace  Providence  without  a  break 

I'  the  plan  of  things,  drop  plumb  on  this  plain  print 

Of  an  intention  with  a  view  to  good. 

That  man  is  made  in  sympathy  with  man 

At  outset_of  existence,  so  to  speak  ; 

But  in  dissociation,  more  and  more, 

Man  from  his  fellow,  as  their  lives  advance 

In  culture  :  still  humanity,  that's  barn 

A  mass,  keeps  flying  off,  fining  away 

Ever  into  a  multitude  of  points, 

A.nd  ends  in  isolation,  each  from  each : 

Peerless  above  i'  the  sky,  the  pinnaclej 


2  10  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

Absolute  contact,  fusion,  all  below 

I     At  the  base  of  being.     How  comes  this  about  ?  — 

This  stamp  of  God,  characterizing  man, 

'      And  nothing  else  but  man,  in  the  universe,  — 

.('     That  while  he  feels  with  man  (to  use  man's  speech) 

I'  the  little  things  of  life,  —  its  fleshly  wants 

Of  food  and  rest  and  health  and  happiness, 

Its  simplest  spirit-motions,  loves  and  hates, 

Hopes,  fears,  soul-cravings  on  the  ignoblest  scale, 

O'  the  fellow-creature,  —  owns  the  bond  at  base,  — 

He  tends  to  freedom  and  divergency 

In  the  upward  progress,  plays  the  pinnacle 

When  life's  at  greatest  ?  (grant  again  the  phrase  ; 

Because  there's  neither  great  nor  small  in  life.) 

"  Consult  thou  for  thy  kind  that  have  the  eyes 

To  see,  the  mouths  to  eat,  the  hands  to  work, 

I       Men  with  the  wives,  and  women  with  the  babes," 

i 

!       Prompts  Nature.     "  Care  thou  for  thyself  alone 

\      r  the  conduct  of  the  mind  God  made  thee  with; 

\     Think  as  if  man  had  never  thought  before  ; 

\    Act  as  if  all  creation  hung  attent 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  2li 

On  the  acting  of  such  faculty  as  thine, 

To  take  prime  pattern  from  thy  masterpiece." 

Nature  prompts  also  :  neither  law  obeyed 

To  the  uttermost  by  any  heart  and  soul 

We  know  or  have  in  record  ;  both  of  tliem 

Acknowledged  blindly  by  whatever  man 

We  ever  knew  or  heard  of  in  this  world. 

"  Will  you  have  why  and  wherefore,  and  the  fact 

Made  plain  as  pikestaff?"  modern  science  asks. 

"  That  mass  man  sprung  from  was  a  jelly-lump 

Once  on  a  time  :  he  kept  an  after-course 

Through  fish  and  insect,  reptile,  bird,  and  beast, 

Till  he  attained  to  be  an  ape  at  last, 

Or  last  but  one.     And  if  this  doctrine  shock 

In  aught  the  natural  pride  " —     Friend,  banish  fear, 

The  natural  humility  replies. 

Do  you  suppose,  even  I,  poor  potentate, 

Hohenstiel-Schwangau,  who  once  ruled  the  roast,  — 

I  was  born  able  at  all  points  to  ply 

My  tools?  or  did  I  have  to  learn  my  trade  ? 

Practise  as  exile  ere  perform  as  prince  ? 


2 1 2  PRINCE  HOIJENSTIEL-SCHWA  .\GA  i \ 

The  world  knows  something  of  my  ups  and  downs 
But  grant  me  time,  give  me  the  management 
And  manufacture  of  a  model  me,  — 
Me  fifty-fold,  a  prince  without  a  flaw,  — 
Why,  there's  no  social  grade,  the  sordidest, 
My  embryo  potentate  should  blink  and  'scape. 
j  King,  all  the  better  he  was  cobbler  once, 
I   He  should  know,  sitting  on  the  throne,  how  tastes 
I    Life  to  who  sweeps  the  doorway.     But  life's  hard, 
Occasion  rare  :  you  cut  probation  short. 
And,  being  half  instructed,  on  the  stage 
You  shuffle  through  your  part  as  best  you  may, 
And  bless  your  stars,  as  I  do.     God  takes  time. 
t  I  like  the  thought  he  should  have  lodged  me  once 
'   I'  the  hole,  the  cave,  the  hut,  the  tenement, 
The  mansion,  and  the  palace ;  made  me  learn 
The  feel  o'  the  first,  before  I  found  myself 
Loftier  i'  the  last,  not  more  emancipate  : 
From  first  to  last  of  lodging,  I  was  I, 
And  not  at  all  the  place  that  harbored  me. 
Do  I  refuse  to  follow  farther  yet 


I 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  213 

r  the  backwardness  ;  repine  if  tree  and  flower, 
Mountain  or  streamlet,  were  my  dwelling-place 
Before  I  gained  enlargement,  grew  mollusk  ? 
As  well  account  that  way  for  many  a  thrill 
Of  kinship  I  confess  to  with  the  powers 
Called  Nature  :  animate,  inanimate. 
In  parts  or  in  the  whole,  there's  something  there 
Man-like,  that,  somehow,  meets  the  man  in  me. 
r  My  pulse  goes  altogether  with  the  heart 
,    O'  the  Persian,  that  old  Xerxes,  when  he  stayed 
'     His  march  to  conquest  of  the  world,  a  day 

I'  the  desert,  for  the  sake  of  one  superb 
!    Plane-tree  which  queened  it  there  in  solitude  ; 
'   Giving  her  neck  its  necklace,  and  each  arm 
Its  armlet,  suiting  soft  waist,  snowy  side, 
AVith  cincture  and  apparel.     Yes,  I  lodged 
In  those  successive  tenements  ;  perchance 
Taste  yet  the  straitness  of  them  while  I  stretch 
Limb,  and  enjoy  new  liberty  the  more. 
And  some  abodes  are  lost  or  ruinous  ; 
Some  patched  up  and  pieced  out,  and  so  transformed, 


214         PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

They  still  accommodate  the  traveller 

His  day  of  life-time.     Oh  !  you  count  the  links  ; 

Descry  no  bar  of  the  unbroken  man  ? 

Yes  ;  and  who  welds  a  lump  of  ore,  suppose 

He  likes  to  make  a  chain,  and  not  a  bar, 

And  reach  by  link  on  link,  link  small,  link  large, 

Out  to  the  due  length,  —  why,  there's  forethought  still 

Outside  o'  the  series,  forging  at  one  end  ; 

While,  at  the  other,  there's  —  no  matter  what 

The  kind  of  critical  intelligence 

Believing  that  last  link  had  last  but  one 

For  parent,  and  no  link  was,  first  of  all, 

Fitted  to  anvil,  hammered  into  shape. 

Else  I  accept  the  doctrine,  and  deduce 

This  duty,  —  that  I  recognize  mankind 

In  all  its  height  and  depth,  and  length  and  breadth. 

Mankind  i'  the  main  have  little  wants,  not  large  : 

I,  being  of  will  and  power  to  help,  i'  the  main. 

Mankind,  must  help  the  least  wants  first.     My  friend, 

That  is,  my  foe,  without  such  power  and  will. 

May  plausibly  concentrate  all  he  wields. 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  215 

And  do  his  best  at  lielping  some  large  want, 

Exceptionally  noble  cause,  that's  seen 

Subordinate  enough  from  where  I  stand. 

As  he  helps,  I  helped  once,  when  like  himself, 

Unable  to  help  better,  work  more  wide  ; 

And  so  would  work  with  heart  and  hand  to-day, 

Did  only  computists  confess  a  fault, 

And  multiply  the  single  score  by  five,  — 

Five  only,  —  give  man's  life  its  hundred  years. 

Change  life,  in  me  shall  follow  change  to  match. 

Time  were,  then,  to  work  here,  there,  everywhere, 

By  turns,  and  try  experiment  at  ease  ! 

Full  time  to  mend  as  well  as  mar :  why  wait 

The  slow  and  sober  uprise  all  around 

O'  the  building  ?     Let  us  run  up,  right  to  roof, 

Some  sudden  marvel,  piece  of  perfectness, 

And  testify  what  we  intend  the  whole  ! 

Is  the  world  losing  patience  ?     "  Wait !  "  say  we : 

"There's  time  :  no  generation  needs  to  die 

Unsolaced  :  you've  a  century  in  store  1 " 

But  no  :   I  sadly  let  the  voices  wing 


2i6         PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

riieir  way  i'  the  upper  vacancy,  nor  test 

Truth  on  this  solid  as  I  promised  once. 

\^'ell,  and  what  is  there  to  be  sad  about  ? 

The  world's  the  world,  life's  life,  and  nothing  else. 

'Tis  part  of  life,  a  property  to  prize, 

That  those  o'  the  higher  sort  engaged  i'  the  world 

Should  fancy  they  can  change  its  ill  to  good, 

Wrong  to  right,  ugliness  to  beauty  ]  find 

Enough  success  in  fancy  turning  fact 

To  keep  the  sanguine  kind  in  countenance, 

And  justify  the  hope  that  busies  them: 

Failure  enough,  —  to  who  can  follow  change 

Beyond  their  vision  ;  see  new  good  prove  ill 

r  the  consequence  3  see  blacks  and  whites  of  life 

Shift  square  indeed,  but  leave  the  checkered  face 

Unchanged  i'  the  main,  —  failure  enough  for  such 

To  bid  ambition  keep  the  whole  from  change 

As  their  best  service.     I  hope  nought  beside. 

No,  my  brave  thinkers,  whom  I  recognize 

Gladly,  myself  the  first,  as,  in  a  sense, 

All  that  our  world's  worth,  flower  and  fruit  of  man  ! 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  217 

Such  minds  myself  award  supremacy 

Over  '.he  common  hisignificance, 

When  only  :Mind's  in  question  :  Body  bows 

To  quite  another  government,  you  know. 

Be  Kant  crowned  king  o'  the  castle  in  the  air  ! 

Hans  Slouch —  his  own  and  children's  mouths  to  feed 

r  the  hovel  on  the  ground  —  wants  meat,  nor  chews 

"The  Pure  Critique  of  Reason"  in  exchange. 

But,  now,  suppose  I  could  allow  your  claims, 

And  quite  change  life  to  please  you  :  would  it  please  ? 

Would  life  comport  with  change,  and  still  be  life  ? 

Ask,  now,  a  doctor  for  a  remedy  : 

There's  his  prescription.     Bid  him  point  you  out 

Which  of  the  five  or  six  ingredients  saves 

The  sick  man.     "  Such  the  efificacity  ? 

Then  why  not  dare  and  do  things  in  one  dose 

Simple  and  pure,  all  virtue,  no  alloy 

Of  the  idle  drop  and  powder  ?  "     What's  his  word  ? 

The  efficacity,  neat,  were  neutralized  : 

It  wants  dispersing  and  retarding  ;  nay, 

Is  put  upon  its  mettle,  plays  its  part 


2l8         PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

Precisely  through  such  hinderance  everywhere, 

Finds  some  mysterious  give  and  take  i'  the  case, 

Some  gain  by  opposition,  he  foregoes 

Should  he  unfetter  the  medicament. 

So  with  this  thought  of  yours  that  fain  would  work 

Free  in  the  world  :  it  w^ants  just  what  it  finds,  — 

The  ignorance,  stupidity,  the  hate. 

Envy  and  malice  and  uncharitableness. 

That  bar  your  passage,  break  the  flow  of  you 

Down  from  those  happy  heights  where  many  a  cloud 

Combined  to  give  you  birth,  and  bid  you  be 

The  royalest  of  rivers  :  on  you  glide 

Silverly  till  you  reach  the  summit-edge  ; 

Then  over,  on  to  all  that  ignorance, 

Stupidity,  hate,  envy,  bluffs,  and  blocks, 

Posted  to  fret  you  into  foam  and  noise. 

What  of  it  ?     Up  you  mount  in  minute  mist. 

And  bridge  the  chasm  that  crushed  your  quietude, 

4  spirit-rainbow,  earth-born  jewelry 

Outsparkling  the  insipid  firmament 

Blue  above  Terni  and  its  orange-trees. 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  219 

Do  not  mistake  me  !     You,  too,  have  your  rights. 

Hans  must  not  burn  Kant's  house  above  his  head 

Because  he  cannot  understand  Kant's  book ; 

And  still  less  must  Hans"  pastor  burn  Kant's  self 

Because  Kant  understands  some  books  too  well. 

But,  justice  seen  to  on  this  little  point, 

Answer  me,  is  it  manly,  is  it  sage. 

To  stop  and  struggle  with  arrangements  here 

It  took  so  many  lives,  so  much  of  toil. 

To  tinker  up  into  efficiency  ? 

Can't  you  contriv'e  to  operate  at  once  — 

Since  time  is  short,  and  art  is  long  —  to  show 

Your  quality  i'  the  world,  whate'er  you  boast, 

Without  this  fractious  call  on  folks  to  crush 

The  world  together  just  to  set  you  free, 

Admire  the  capers  you  will  cut  perchance, 

Nor  mind  the  mischief  to  your  neighbors  ? 

"  Age  ! 
Age  and  experience,  bring  discouragement," 
You  taunt  me  :  I  maintain  the  opposite. 


Z20         PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

A.m  I  discouraged,  who  —  perceiving  health, 

Strength,  beauty,  as  they  tempt  the  eye  of  soul, 

Are  uncombinable  with  flesh  and  blood  — - 

Resolve  to  let  my  body  live  its  best, 

And  leave  my  soul  what  better  yet  may  be, 

Or  not  be,  in  this  life  or  afterw^ard  ?  — 

In  either  fortune,  wiser  than  who  waits 

Till  magic  art  procure  a  miracle. 

In  virtue  of  my  very  confidence 

Mankind  ought  to  outgrow  its  babyhood, 

I  prescribe  rocking,  deprecate  rough  hands. 

While  thus  the  cradle  holds  it  past  mistake. 

Indeed,  my  task's  the  harder,  —  equable 

Sustainment  evervwhere,  all  strain,  no  push,  — 

Whereby  friends  credit  me  with  indolence, 

Apathy,  hesitation.     "  Stand  stock-still 

If  able  to  move  briskly  ?     '  All  a-strain,'  — 

So  must  we  compliment  your  passiveness  ? 

Sound  asleep,  rather  !  " 

Just  the  judgment  passed 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  221 

Upon  a  statue,  luckless  like  myself, 

I  saw  at  Rome  once  !     'Twas  some  artist's  whim 

'  To  cover  all  the  accessories  close 

i  r  the  group^  and  leave  you  only  Laocoon, 

,  With  neither  sons  nor  serpents  to  denote 

I    The  purpose  of  his  gesture.     Then  a  crowd 

Was  called  to  try  the  question  ;  criticise 

1 

!    Wherefore  such  energy  of  legs  and  arms, 

1   Nay,  eyeballs  starting  from  the  socket.  -.One,  — 

I  give  him  leave  to  write  my  histor}%  — 
t   Only  one,  said,  "  I  think  the  gesture  strives 
;  Against  some  obstacle  we  cannot  see." 
;  All  the  rest  made  their  minds  up  :  "  'Tis  a  yawn 
\  Of  sheer  fatigue  subsiding  to  repose  ; 
^  The  statue's  '  Somnolency  '  clear  enough  ! " 

There,  my  arch  stranger-friend,  my  audience  both 
And  arbitress,  you  have  one-half  your  wish. 
At  least,  —  you  know  the  thing  I  tried  to  do 
All,  so  far,  to  my  praise  and  glory ;  alj^ 
Told  as  befits  the  self-apologist, 


22  2  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAUy 

Who  ever  promises  a  candid  sweep 

And  clearance  of  those  errors,  miscalled  crimes, 

None  knows  more,  none  laments  So  mucli,  as  he, 

And  ever  rises  from  confession,  proved 

A  god  whose  fault  was  —  trying  to  be  man. 

Just  so,  fair  judge,  — if  I  read  smile  aright,  — 

I  condescend  to  figure  in  your  eyes 

As  biggest  heart  and  best  of  Europe's  friends. 

And  hence  my  failure.     God  will  estimate 

Success  one  day  ;  and,  in  the  mean  time,  —  you  ! 

I  dare  say  there's  some  fancy  of  the  sort 

Frolicking  round  this  final  puff  I  send 

To  die  up  yonder  in  the  ceiling-rose,  — 

Some  consolation-stakes,  we  losers  win  ! 

A  plague  of  the  return  to  "  I  —  ^juj, 

Did  this,  meant  that,  hoped,  feared,  thej)ther  thing  !  " 

Autobiography,  adieu  !     The  rest ' 

Shall  make  amends,  be  pure  blame,  history 

And  falsehood ;  not  the  ineffective  truth, 

But  Thiers-and-Victor-Hugo  exercise. 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  223 

Hear  what  I  never  was,  but  mii^lit  have_been 

r  the  better  world  where  goes  tobacco-smoke ! 

Here  lie  the  dozen  volumes  of  my  life  : 

(Did  I  say  "  lie"?  the  pregnant  word  will  serve.) 

Cut  on  to  the  concluding  chapter,  though  \ 

Because  the  little  hours  begin  to  strike. 

Hurry  Thiers-Hugo  to  the  labor's  end  ! 

Something  like  this  the  unwritten  chapter  reads. 

Exemplify  the  situation  thus  ! 

Hohenstiel-Schwangau,  being,  no  dispute, 

Absolute  mistress,  chose  the  Assembly,  first, 

To  serve  her  \  chose  this  man,  its  president 

Afterward,  to  serve  also,  —  specially 

To  see  that  they  did  service  one  and  all. 

And  now  the  proper  term  of  years  was  out 

When  the  head  servant  must  vacate  his  place  ; 

And  nothing  lay  so  patent  to  the  world 

As  that  his  fellow- servants  one  and  all 

Were  —  mildly  make  we  mention  — knaves  or  fools. 


2  24  PR  IXC E   HOHENSTTEL-SCHWAXGAU, 

Eich  of  them  with  his  purpose  flourished  full 

I'  the  face  of  you  by  word  and  impudence, 

Or  filtered  slyly  out  by  nod  and  wink, 

.'\nd  nudge  upon  your  sympathetic  rib  ; 

That  not  one  minute  more  did  knave  or  fool 

]Mean  to  keep  faith,  and  serve  as  he  had  sworn 

Hohenstiel-Schwangau,  once  that  head  away. 

Why  did  such  swear,  except  to  get  the  chance, 

When  time  should  ripen  and  confusion  bloom, 

Of  putting  Hohenstielers-Schwangauese 

To  the  true  use  of  human  property  ? 

Restoring  souls  and  bodies,  —  this  to  pope, 

And  that  to  king,  that  other  to  his  planned 

Perfection  of  a  share-and-share-alike. 

That  other  still  to  empire  absolute 

In  shape  of  the  head  servant's  very  self 

Transformed  to  master  whole  and  sole  :  each  scheme 

Discussible,  concede  one  circumstance, — 

That  each  scheme's  parent  were,  beside  himself, 

Hohenstiel-Schwangau,  not  her  serving-man 

Sworn  to  do  service  in  the  v/av  she  chose 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  225 

Ratlier  '.ban  his  way,  —  way  superlative, 

Only  —  by  some  infatuation  — his 

And  his  and  his,  and  every  one's  but  hers 

Who  stuck  to  just  the  Assembly  and  the  head. 

I  make  no  doubt  the  head,  too,  had  his  dream 

Of  doing  sudden  duty  swift  and  sure 

On  all  that  heap  of  untrustworthiness  ; 

Catching  each  vaunter  of  the  villany 

He  meant  to  perpetrate  when  time  was  ripe, 

Once  the  head  servant  fairly  out  of  doors  ; 

And  caging  here  a  knave,  and  there  a  fool. 

Cry,  "  Mistress  of  the  servants,  these  and  me, 

Hohenstiel-Schwangau !  I,  their  trusty  head, 

Pounce  on  a  pretty  scheme  concocting  here. 

That's  stopped,  extinguished,  by  my  vigilance. 

Your  property  is  safe  again  ;  but  mark  ! 

Safe  in  these  hands,  not  yours,  who  lavish  trust 

Too  lightly.     Leave  my  hands  their  charge  a  while  ! 

I  know  your  business  better  than  yourself : 

Let  me  alone  about  it !     Some  fine  day, 

Once  we  are  rid  of  the  embarrassment, 

IS 


226         PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

You  shall  look  up  and  see  your  longings  crowned ! " 

Such  fancy  may  have  tempted  to  be  false  ; 

But  this  man  chose  truth,  and  was  wiser  so. 

He  recognized,  that,  for  great  minds  i'  the  world, 

There  is  no  trial  like  the  appropriateone 

Of  leaving  little  minds  their  liberty 

Of  littleness  to  blunder  on  through  life  ; 

Now  aiming  at  right  end  by  foolish  means, 

Now  at  absurd  achievement  through  the  aid 

Of  good  and  wise  means,  —  trial  to  acquiesce 

In  folly's  life-long  privilege,  though  with  power 

To  do  the  little  minds  the  good  they  need, 

Despite  themselves,  by  just  abolishing 

Their  right  to  play  the  part  and  fill  the  place 

I'  the  scheme  of  things  He  schemed  who  made  alike 

Great  minds  and  little  minds,  saw  use  for  each. 

Could  the  orb  sweep  those  puny  particles 

It  just  half-lights  at  distance,  hardly  leads 

r  the  leash ;  sweep  out  each  speck  of  them  from  space 

They  anticise  in  with  their  days  and  nights 

A.nd  whirlings  round  and  dancings  off,  forsooth, 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  227 

And  all  that  fruitless  individual  life 

One  cannot  lend  a  beam  to  but  they  spoil ; 

Sweep  them  into  itself,  and  so,  one  star, 

Preponderate  henceforth  i'  the  heritage 

Of  heaven  !     No  !  in  less  senatorial  phrase, 

The  man  endured  to  help,  not  save  outright, 

The  multitude,  by  substituting  him 

For  them,  his  knowledge,  will,  and  way,  for  God's ; 

Not  change  the  world,  such  as  it  is,  and  was. 

And  will  be,  for  some  other,  suiting  all 

Except  the  purpose  of  the  Maker.     No  ! 

He  saw  that  weakness,  wickedness,  will  be. 

And  therefore  should  be  ;  that  the  perfect  man. 

As  we  account  perfection,  —  at  most  pure 

O'  the  special  gold,  whatever  the  form  it  take. 

Head-work  or  heart-work,  fined  and  thrice-refined 

r  the  crucible  of  life,  whereto  the  powers 

Of  the  refiner,  one  and  all,  were  flung 

To  feed  the  flame  their  utmost,  —  e'en  that  block, 

He  holds  out  breathlessly  triumphant,  —  breaks 

Into  some  poisonous  ore,  its  opposite, 


2  28  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

At  the  very  purest,  so  compensating 

The  Adversar}'  —  what  if  we  believe  ?  — 

For  earlier  stern  exclusion  of  his  stuff. 

See  the  sage,  with  the  hunger  for  the  truth, 

And  see  his  SN'stem  that's  all  true,  except 

The  one  weak  place  that's  stanchioned  by  a  lie ! 

The  moralist,  that  walks  with  head  erect 

I'  the  crystal  charity  of  air  so  long, 

Until  a  stumble,  and  the  man's  one  mire ! 

Philanthropy  undoes  the  social  knot 

With  axe-edge  ;  makes  love  room  'twixt  head  and  trunk ! 

Religion  —  but  enough:   the  thing's  too  clear  ! 

Well,  if  these  sparks  break  out  i'  the  greenest  tree, 

Our  topmost  of  performance,  yours  and  mine, 

What  will  be  done  i'  the  drv  ineptitude 

Of  ordinary  mankind,  bark  and  bole,  .   ^^  '■^ 

All  seems  ashamed  of  but  their  mother-earth? 

Therefore  throughout  his  term  of  servitude 

He  did  the  appointed  service,  and  forbore 

Extraneous  action  that  were  duty  else. 

Done  by  some  other  servant,  idle  now 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY. 


229 


Or  mischievous  :  no  matter,  eacli  his  own,  — 

Own  task,  and,  in  the  end,  own  praise  or  blame ! 

He  suffered  them  strut,  prate,  and  brag  their  best ; 

Squabble  at  odds  on  every  point  save  one, 

And  there  shake  hands  ;  agree  to  trifle  time  ; 

Obstruct  advance  with,  each,  his  cricket-cry, 

"  Wait  till  the  head  be  off  the  shoulders  here ! 

Then  comes  my  king,  my  pope,  my  autocrat. 

My  socialist  republic  to  her  own,  — 

To  wit,  that  propert}^  of  only  me, 

Hohenstiel-Schwangau,  who  conceits  herself 

Free,  forsooth,  and  expects  I  keep  her  so  !  "  — 

Nay,  suffered  when,  perceiving  with  dismay 

His  silence  paid  no  tribute  to  that  noise. 

They  turned  on  him.     "  Dumb  menace  in  that  mouth, 

Malice  in  that  unstridulosity  ! 

He  cannot  but  intend  some  stroke  of  state 

Shall  signalize  his  passage  into  peace 

Out  of  the  creaking  ;  hinder  transference 

O'  the  Hohenstielers-Schwangauese  to  king, 

Pope,  autocrat,  or  socialist  republic  !     That's 


230  PRINCE   HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

Exact  the  cause  his  lips  unlocked  would  ciy  ! 

Therefore  be  stirring ;  brave,  beard,  bull}-  him  ! 

Dock,  by  the  million,  of  its  friendly  joints, 

The  electoral  body  short  at  once  !  who  did 

May  do  again,  and  undo  us  beside. 

Wrest  from  his  hands  the  sword  for  self-defence, 

The  right  to  pariy  any  thrust  in  play 

We  peradventure  please  to  meditate  !  " 

And  so  forth  ;  creak,  creak,  creak  :  and  ne'er  a  line 

His  locked  mouth  oped  the  wider,  till  at  last, 

O'  the  long  degraded  and  insulting  day, 

Sudden  the  clock  told  it  was  judgment- time. 

Then  he  addressed  himself  to  speak  indeed 

To  the  fools,  not  knaves :  they  saw  him  walk  straight 

down 
Each  step  of  the  eminence,  as  he  first  engaged, 
And  stand  at  last  o'  the  level,  —  all  he  swore. 
''  People,  and  not  the  people's  varletry,  — 
This  is  the  task  j^ou  set  myself  and  these  ! 
Thus  I  performed  my  part  of  it,  and  thus 
They  thwarted  me  throughout,  here,  here,  and  here : 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  231 

Study  each  instance  !  yours  the  loss,  not  mine. 

What  they  intend  now  is  demonstrable 

As  plainly  :  here's  such  man  ;  and  here's  such  mode 

Of  making  you  some  other  than  the  thing 

You,  wisely  or  unwisely,  choose  to  be, 

And  only  set  him  up  to  keep  you  so. 

Do  you  approve  this  ?     Yours  the  loss,  not  mine. 

Do  you  condemn  it?     There's  a  remedy. 

Take  me, — who  know  j-our  mind,  and  mean  your  good, 

With  clearer  head  and  stouter  arm  than  they, 

Or  )^ou,  or,  haply,  anybody  else,  — 

And  make  me  master  for  the  moment !     Choose 

What  time,  what  power  you  trust  me  with  :  I,  too. 

Will  choose  as  frankly  ere  I  trust  myself 

With  time  and  power  :  they  must  be  adequate 

To  the  end  and  aim,  since  mine  the  loss,  with  yours, 

If  means  be  wanting  :  once  their  worth  approved, 

Grant  them,  and  I  shall  forthwith  operate  — 

Ponder  it  well !  —  to  the  extremest  stretch 

O"  the  power  you  trust  me  ;  if  with  unsuccess, 

God  wills  it,  and  there's  nobody  to  blame." 


232  PRINCE   HOHEXSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

Whereon  the  people  answered  with  a  shout, 
"  The  trusty  one  !  no  tricksters  any  more  ■  " 
How  could  they  other  ?     He  was  in  his  place. 

Wliat  followed  ?     Just  what  he  foresaw,  what  proved 

The  soundness  of  both  judgments,  —  his,  o'  the  knaves 

And  fools,  each  trickster  with  his  dupe  ;  and  theirs, 

The  people,  in  what  head  and  arm  should  help. 

There  was  uprising,  masks  dropped,  flags  unfurled, 

Weapons  outflourished  in  the  wind,  my  faith  ! 

Heavily  did  he  let  his  fist  fall  plumb 

On  each  perturber  of  the  public  peace, 

No  matter  whose  the  wagging  head  it  broke,  — 

From  bald-pate  craft  and  greed  and  impudence 

Of  night-hawk  at  first  chance  to  prowl  and  prey 

For  glory  and  a  little  gain  beside, 

Passing  for  eagle  in  the  dusk  of  the  age, 

To  florid  head-top,  foamy  patriotism. 

And  tribunitial  daring,  breast  laid  bare 

Through  confidence  in  rectitude,  with  hand 

On  private  pistol  in  the  pocket :  these, 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  233 

And  all  the  dupes  of  these,  who  lent  themselves 

As  dust  and  feather  do  to  help  offence 

O'  the  wind  that  whirls  them  at  you,  then  subsides 

In  safety  somewhere,  leaving  filth  afloat, 

Annoyance  you  may  brush  from  eyes  and  beard,  — 

These  he  stopped  ;  bade  the  wind's  spite  howl  or  whine 

Its  worst  outside  the  building,  wind  conceives 

Meant  to  be  pulled  together,  and  become 

Its  natural  playground  so.     What  foolishness 

Of  dust  or  feather  proved  importunate. 

And  fell  'twixt  thumb  and  finger,  found  them  gripe 

To  detriment  of  bulk  and  buoyancy. 

Then  followed  silence  and  submission.     Next 

The  inevitable  comment  came  on  work 

And  work's  cost :  he  was  censured  as  profuse 

Of  human  life  and  liberty ;  too  swift 

And  thorough  his  procedure,  who  had  lagged 

At  the  outset,  lost  the  opportunity 

Through  timid  scruples  as  to  right  and  wrong. 

"  There's  no  such  certain  mark  of  a  small  mind  " 

(So  did  Sagacity  explain  the  fault) 


2  34  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHXVANGAU, 

"  As  when  it  needs  must  square  away,  and  sink 
To  its  own  small  dimensions,  private  scale 
Of  right  and  wrong,  —  humanity  i'  the  large, 
The  right  and  wrong  of  the  universe,  forsooth  ! 
This  man  addressed  himself  to  guard  and  guide 
Hohenstiel-Schwangau.     When  the  case  demands 
He  frustrate  villany  in  the  egg,  unhatched, 
With  easy  stamp  and  minimum  of  pang 
E'en  to  the  punished  reptile,  '  There's  my  oath 
Restrains  my  foot,'  objects  our  guide  and  guard  ; 
'  I  must  leave  guardianship  and  guidance  now  : 
Rather  than  stretch  one  handbreath  of  the  law, 
I  am  bound  to  see  it  break  from  end  to  end. 
First  show  me  death  i'  the  body  politic ; 
Then  prescribe  pill  and  potion,  what  may  please 
Hohenstiel-Schwangau  !  all  is  for  her  sake  : 
'Twas  she  ordained  my  service  should  be  so. 
What  if  the  event  demonstrate  her  unwise, 
If  she  unwill  the  thing  she  willed  before  ? 
1  hold  to  the  letter,  and  obey  the  bond, 
And  leave  her  to  perdition  loyally.' 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  235 

Whence  followed  thrice  the  expenditure  we  blame 
Of  human  life  and  liberty :  for  want 
O'  the  by-blow  came  deliberate  butcher's-work  !  " 
"  Elsewhere  go  cany  your  complaint,"  bade  he. 
"  Least,  largest,  there's  one  law  for  all  the  minds, 
Here  or  above  :  be  true  at  any  price  ! 
'Tis  just  o'  the  great  scale  that  such  happy  stroke 
Of  falsehood  would  be  found  a  failure.     Truth 
Still  stands  unshaken  at  her  base  by  me, 
Reigns  paramount  i'  the  world,  for  the  large  good 
O'  the  long  late  generations,  —  I  and  you 
Forgotten  like  this  buried  foolishness  ! 
Not  so  the  good  I  rooted  in  its  grave." 

This  is  why  he  refused  to  break  his  oath ; 
Rather  appealed  to  the  people  ;  gained  the  power 
To  act  as  he  thought  best ;  then  used  it  once 
For  all,  no  matter  what  the  consequence 
To  knaves  and  fools.     As  thus  began  his  sway, 
So,  through  its  twenty  years,  one  rule  of  righ^t 
Sliced  Jiim  :  govern  for  the  manyfirst 


236         PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

The  poorraean  multitudej_^all  mouths  and  ejes; 

Bid  the  few,  better  favored  in  the  brain, 

Be  patient,  nor  presume  on  privilege, 

Help  him,  or  else  be  g^uiet,  —  never  crave 

That  he  help  them,  —  increase,  forsooth,  the  gulf 

Yawning  so  terribly  'twixt  mind  and  mind 

I'  the  world  here,  w-hich  his  purpose  was  to  block 

At  bottom,  were  it  by  an  inch,  and  bridge. 

If  by  a  filament,  no  more,  at  top. 

Equalize  things  a  little  !     And  the  way 

He  took  to  work  that  purpose  out  was  plain 

Enough  to  intellect  and  honesty 

And  —  superstition  style  it  if  \-ou  please, 

So  long  as  you  allow  there  was  no  lack 

O'  the  quality_:mperative  in  man  — 

Reverence.     You  see  deeper  ?  thus  saw  he, 

And,  by  the  light  he  saw,  must  walk  :  how  else 

Was  he  to  do  his  part  ?  the  man's,  with  might 

And  main,  and  not  a  faintest  touch  of  fear, 

Sure  he  was  in  the  hand  of  God,  who  comes 

Before  and  after,  with  a  work  to  do 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  237 

Which  no  man  helps  nor  hinders.     Thus  the  man,  — 

So  timid  when  the  business  was  to  touch 

The  uncertain  order  of  liumanity, 

Imperil,  for  a  problematic  cure 

Of  grievance  on  the  surface,  any  good 

I'  the  deep  of  things,  dim  yet  discernible, — 

This  same  man,  so  irresolute  before, 

Show  him  a  true  excrescence  to  cut  sheer, 

A  devil's-graft  on  God's  foundation-stone, 

Then  —  no  complaint  of  indecision  more  ! 

He  wrenched  out  the  whole  canker,  root  and  branch, 

Deaf  to  who  cried  the  world  would  tumble  in 

At  its  four  corners  if  he  touched  a  twig. 

Witness  that  lie  of  lies,  arch-infamy. 

When  the  Republic,  with  all  life  involved 

In  just  this  law,  —  "  Each  people  rules  itself 

Its  own  way,  not  as  any  stranger  please,"  — 

Turned,  and,  for  first  proof  she  was  living,  bade 

Hohenstiel-Schwangau  fasten  on  the  throat 

Of  the  first  neighbor  that  claimed  benefit 

O'  the  law  herself  established  :  "  Hohenstiel 


238  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWAXGAU, 

For  Hohenstielers  !  Rome,  by  parity 

Of  reasoning,  for  Romans  ?     That's  a  jest 

Wants  proper  treatment,  —  lancet-puncture  suits 

The  proud  flesh  :  Rome  ape  Hohenstiel  forsooth  !  " 

And  so  the  siege  and  slaughter  and  success, 

Whereof  we  nothing  doubt  that  Hohenstiel 

Will  have  to  pay  the  price  in  God's  good  time  ; 

Which  does  not  always  fall  on  Saturday, 

When  the  world  looks  for  wages.     Anyhow, 

He  found  this  infamy  triumphant.     Well, 

Sagacity  suggested,  make  this  speech  :  — 

"  The  work  was  none  of  mine  :  suppose  wrong  wait, 

Stand  over  for  redressing  ?     Mine  for  me  ; 

My  predecessors'  work  on  their  own  head  ! 

Meantime,  there's  plain  advantage,  should  we  leave 

Things  as  we  find  them.     Keep  Rome  manacled 

Hand  and  foot :  no  fear  of  unruliness  ! 

Her  foes  consent  to  even  seem  our  friends 

So  long,  no  longer.     Then  there's  glory  got 

1'  the  boldness  and  bravado  to  the  world. 

The  disconcerted  world  must  grin  and  bear 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  239 

The  old  saucy  writing,  — '  Grunt  thereat  who  may  : 

So  shall  things  be,  for  such  my  pleasure  is,  — 

Hohenstiel-Schwangau.'     How  that  reads  in  Rome, 

r  the  Capitol  where  Brennus  broke  his  pate  I 

And  what  a  flourish  for  our  journalists !  " 

Only  it  was  nor  read  nor  flourished  of, 

Since  not  a  moment  did  such  glory  stay 

Excision  of  the  canker !     Out  it  came, 

Root  and  branch,  with  much  roaring,  and  some  blood, 

And  plentiful  abuse  of  him  from  friend 

And  foe.     Who  cared?     Not  Nature,  that  assuaged 

The  pain,  and  set  the  patient  on  his  legs 

Promptly  :  the  better  !  — had  it  been  the  worse, 

'Tis  Nature  you  must  try  conclusions  with. 

Not  he  ;  since  nursing  canker  kills  the  sick 

For  certain,  while  to  cut  may  cure  at  least. 

"Ah,"  groaned  a  second  time  Sagacity, 

"  Again  the  little  mind,  precipitate. 

Rash,  rude,  when  even  in  the  right,  as  here ! 

The  great  mind  knows  the  power  of  gentleness ; 

Only  tries  force  because  persuasion  fails. 


240  PRINCE  HOHEA'STIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

Had  this  man,  by  prelusive  trumpet-blast, 

Signified,  'Truth  and  Justice  mean  to  come; 

Nay,  fast  approach  your  threshold  !     Ere  they  knock, 

See  that  the  house  be  set  in  order,  swept 

And  garnished,  windows  shut,  and  doors  thrown  wide. 

The  free  State  comes  to  visit  the  free  Church : 

Receive  her!  or  —  or — never  mind  what  else  !* 

Thus  moral  suasion  heralding  brute  force, 

How  had  he  seen  the  old  abuses  die, 

And  new  life  kindle  here,  there,  everywhere, 

Roused  simply  by  that  mild  yet  potent  spell,  — 

Beyond  or  beat  of  drum,  or  stroke  of  sword,  — 

Public  opinion  !." 

"  How,  indeed  ? "  he  asked, 
"  When  all  to  see,  after  some  twenty  years. 
Were  your  own  fool-face  waiting  for  the  sight, 
Faced  by  as  wide  a  grin  from  ear  to  ear 
()"  the  knaves,  that,  while  the  fools  were  waiting,  worked 
Broke  yet  another  generation's  heart,  — 
'i'wenty  years'  respite  helping  !     Teach  your  nurse 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  241 

'  Compliance  with,  before  you  suck,  the  teat ! ' 
Find    what    that    means,   and    meanwhile    hold    your 
tongue ! " 

Whereof  the  war  came  which  he  knew  must  be. 

Now,  this  had  proved  the  dry-rot  of  the  race 

He  ruled  o'er,  that  in  the  old  day,  when  was  need 

They  fought  for  their  own  liberty  and  life, 

Well  did  they  fight,  none  better :  whence  such  love 

Of  fighting  somehow  still  for  fighting's  sake 

Against  no  matter  whose  the  liberty 

And  life,  so  long  as  self-conceit  should  crow 

And  clap  the  wing,  while  Justice  sheathed  her  claw,  — 

That  what  had  been  the  glory  of  the  world, 

When  thereby  came  the  world's  good,  grew  its  plague 

Now  that  the  champion-armor,  donned  to  dare 

The  dragon  once,  was  clattered  up  and  down 

Highway  and  by-path  of  the  world  at  peace, 

I^.Ierely  to  mask  marauding,  or  for  sake 

O'  the  shine  and  rattle  that  apprised  the  fields 


242  PRINCE   HOHENSTIEL-SCHWAA'GAU, 

Hohenstiel-Schwangau  was  a  fighter  yet, 
And  would  be  till  the  weary  world  suppressed 
A  peccant  humor  out  of  fashion  now. 
Accordingly,  the  world  spoke  plain  at  last ; 
Promised  to  punish  who  next  played  with  arms. 

So  at  his  advent,  such  discomfiture 

Taking  its  true  shape  of  beneficence, 

Hohenstiel-Schwangau,  half  sad  and  part  wise, 

Sat :  if  with  wistful  eye  reverting  oft 

To  each  pet  weapon  rusty  on  its  peg, 

Yet  with  a  sigh  of  satisfaction  too, 

That,  peacefulness  become  the  law,  herself 

Got  the  due  share  of  godsends  in  its  train. 

Cried  shame,  and  took  advantage  quietly. 

Still,  so  the  dry-rot  had  been  nursed  into 

Blood,  bones,  and  marrow,  that,  from  worst  to  best. 

All,  — clearest  brains  and  soundest  hearts,  save  here, 

All  had  this  lie  acceptable  for  law 

Plain  as  the  sun  at  noonday,  —  "  War  is  best, 

Peace  is  worst ;  peace  we  only  tolerate 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  243 

As  needful  preparation  for  new  war : 

War  may  be  for  whatever  end  we  will ; 

Peace  only  as  the  proper  help  thereto. 

Such  is  the  law  of  risjht  and  wrong  for  us, 

HohenstielSchwangau  ;  for  the  other  world, 

As  naturally,  quite  another  law. 

Are  we  content  ?  —  the  world  is  satisfied. 

Discontent  ?  —  then  the  world  must  give  us  leave 

Strike  right  and  left  to  exercise  our  arm, 

Torpid  of  late,  through  overmuch  repose. 

And  show  its  strength  is  still  superlative 

At  somebody's  expense  in  life  or  limb: 

Which  done,  let  peace  succeed,  and  last  a  year  !  " 

Such  devil's-doctrine  was  so  judged  God's  law, 

We  say,  when  this  man  stepped  upon  the  stage, 

That  it  had  seemed  a  venial  fault  at  most 

Had  be  once  more  obeyed  Sagacity. 

"  You  come  i'  the  happy  interval  of  peace, 

The  favorable  weariness  from  war  : 

Prolong  it! — artfully,  as  if  intent 

On  ending  peace  as  soon  as  possible. 


244  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

Quietly  so  increase  the  sweets  of  ease 

And  safet}^,  so  employ  the  multitude, 

Put  hod  and  trowel  so  in  idle  hands, 

So  stuff  and  stop  the  wagging  jaws  with  bread, 

That  Selfishness  shall  surreptitiously 

Do  Wisdom's  office  ;  whisper  in  the  ear 

Of  Hohenstiel-Schwangau,  there's  a  pleasant  feel 

In  being  gently  forced  down,  pinioned  fast 

To  the  easy  arm-chair  by  the  pleading  arms 

O'  the  world  beseeching  her  to  there  abide 

Content  with  all  the  harm  done  hitherto, 

And  let  herself  be  petted  in  return, 

Free  to  re-wage,  in  speech  and  prose  and  verse, 

The  old  unjust  wars,  nay,  —  in  verse  and  prose 

And  speech,  —  to  vaunt  new  victories,  as  vile 

A  plague  o'  the  future,  —  so  that  words  suffice 

For  present  comfort,  and  no  deeds  denote 

That  —  tired  of  illimitable  line  on  line 

Of  boulevard-building,  tired  o'  the  theatre 

\Vith  the  tuneful  thousand  in  their  thrones  above, 

I'or  glory  of  the  male  intelligence, 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  245 

And  Nakedness  in  her  due  niche  below, 

For  illustration  of  the  female  use  — 

She,  'twixt  a  yawn  and  sigh,  prepares  to  slip 

Out  of  the  arm-chair,  wants  seme  blood  again 

From  over  the  boundary  to  color  up 

The  sheeny  sameness,  keep  the  world  aware 

Hohenstiel-Schwangau  mvist  have  exercise 

Despite  the  petting  of  the  universe  ! 

Come,  you're  a  city-builder  :  what's  the  way 

Wisdom  takes,  when  time  needs  that  she  entice 

Some  fierce  tribe,  castled  on  the  mountain-peak. 

Into  the  quiet  and  amenity 

O'  the  meadow-land  below  ?     By  crying,  '  Done 

With  fight  now,  down  with  fortress  '  ?     Rather,  '  Dare 

On,  dare  ever,  not  a  stone  displaced  ! ' 

Cries  Wisdom,  '  Cradle  of  our  ancestors. 

Be  bulwark  ;  give  our  children  safety  still ! 

Who  of  our  children  please  may  stoop  and  taste 

O'  the  valley-fatness,  unafraid  ;   for  why  ? 

At  first  alarm,  they  have  thy  mother-ribs 

To  run  upon  for  refuge  :  foes  forget 


246  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

Scarcely  what  Terror  on  her  vantage-coigne, 

Couchant  supreme  among  the  powers  of  air, 

Watches  —  prepared  to  pounce  —  the  country  wide  ! 

Meanwhile  the  encouraged  valley  holds  its  own, 

From  the  first  hut's  adventure  in  descent, 

Half  home,  half  hiding-place,  to  dome  and  spire 

Befitting  the  assured  metropolis  : 

Nor  means  offence  to  the  fort  which  caps  the  crag, 

All  undismantled  of  a  turret-stone, 

And  bears  the  banner-pole  that  creaks  at  times, 

Embarrassed  by  the  old  emblazonment. 

When  festal  days  are  to  commemorate. 

Otherwise  left  untenanted,  no  doubt, 

Since,  never  fear,,  our  myriads  from  below 

Would  rush,  if  needs  were,  man  the  walls  once  more, 

Renew  the  exploits  of  the  earlier  time 

At  moment's  notice  !     But,  till  notice  sound, 

Inhabit  we  in  ease  and  opulence  !  ' 

And  so,  till  one  day  thus  a  notice  sounds. 

Not  trumpeted,  but  in  a  whisper-gust 

Fitfully  playing  through  mute  city  streets 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  247 

At  midnight  weary  of  day's  feast  and  game,  — 

'  Friends,  your  famed  fort's  a  ruin  past  repair ! 

Its  use  is,  to  proclaim  it  had  a  use 

Stolen  away  long  since.     Climb  to  study  there 

How  to  paint  barbican  and  battlement 

r  the  scenes  of  our  new  theatre  !     We  fight 

Now  —  by  forbidding  neighbors  to  sell  steel 

Or  buy  wine,  not  by  blowing  out  their  brains  ! 

Moreover,  while  we  let  time  sap  the  strength 

O'  the  walls  omnipotent  in  menace  once. 

Neighbors  would  seem  to  have  prepared  surprise ; 

Run  up  defences  in  a  mushroom  growth, 

For  all  the  world  like  what  we  boasted :  brief,  — 

Hohenstiel-Schwangau's  policy  is  peace  !  '  " 

Ay,  so  Sagacity  advised  him  filch 

Folly  from  fools  ;  handsomely  substitute 

The  dagger  o'  lath,  while  gay  they  sang  and  danced 

For  that  long  dangerous  sword  they  liked  to  feel, 

Even  at  feast-time,  clink  and  make  friends  start. 

No  !  he  said,  "  Hear  the  truth,  and  bear  the  truth, 


248  PRINCE   HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

And  bring  the  truth  to  bear  on  all  you  are 

And  do,  assured  that  only  good  comes  thence, 

Whate'er  the  shape  good  take !     While  I  have  rule, 

Understand  !  —  war  for  war's  sake,  war  for  the  sake 

O'  the  good  war  gets  you  as  war's  sole  excuse, 

Is  damnable,  and  damned  shall  be.     You  want 

Glor}'?     Why,  so  do  I,  and  so  does  God. 

Where  is  it  found,  —  in  this  paraded  shame,  — 

One  particle  of  glory  ?     Once  you  warred 

For  liberty  against  the  world,  and  won  : 

There  was  the  glory.     Now  you  fain  would  war 

Because  the  neighbor  prospers  overmuch  ; 

Because  there  has  been  silence  half  an  hour, 

Like  heaven  on  earth,  without  a  cannon-shot 

Announcing  Hohenstielers-Schwangauese 

Are  minded  to  disturb  the  jubilee  ; 

Because  the  loud  tradition  echoes  faint, 

And  who  knows  but  posterity  may  doubt 

If  the  great  deeds  were  ever  done  at  all, 

Much  less  believe,  were  such  to  do  again. 

So  the  event  would  follow  :  therefore  prove 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  249 

The  old  power  at  the  expense  of  somebody  ! 
O  Glory  !  — gilded  bubble,  bard  and  sage 
So  nickname  rightly,  ^  would  thy  dance  endure 
One  moment,  would  thy  mocking  make  believe 
Only  one  upturned  eye  thy  ball  was  gold, 

Hadst  thou  less  breath  to  buoy  thy  vacancy 

* 

Than  a  whole  multitude  expends  in  praise. 

Less  range  for  roaming  than  from  head  to  head 

Of  a  whole  people  ?     Flit,  fall,  fly  again  ; 

Only  fix  never  where  the  resolute  hand 

May  prick  thee,  prove  the  lie  thou  art,  at  once  ! 

Give  me  real  intellect  to  reason  with, 

No  multitude,  no  entity  that  apes 

One  wise  man,  being  but  a  million  fools  ! 

How  and  whence  wishest  glory,  thou  wise  one  ? 

Wouldst  get  it  —  didst  thyself  guide  Providence  — 

By  stinting  of  his  due  each  neighbor  round 

In  strength  and  knowledge  and  dexterity, 

So  as  to  have  thy  littleness  grow  large 

By  all  those  somethings  once,  turned  nothings  now, 

As  children  make  a  molehill  mountainous 


250         PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

By  scooping  out  the  plain  into  a  trench, 

And  saving  so  their  favorite  from  approach  ? 

Quite  otherwise  the  cheery  game  of  life, 

True  yet  mimetic  warfare,  whereby  man 

Does  his  best  with  his  utmost,  and  so  ends 

The  victor  most  of  all  in  fair  defeat. 

Wlio  thinks,  —  would  he  have  no  one  think  beside  ? 

Who  knows,  who  does,  —  must  other  learning  die, 

And  action  perish  ?     Why,  our  giant  proves 

No  better  than  a  dwarf,  with  rivalry 

Prostrate  around  him.     '  Let  the  whole  race  stand 

And  try  conclusions  fairly !  '  he  cries  first. 

Show  me  the  great  man  would  engage  his  peer 

Rather  by  grinning,  '  Cheat,  thy  gold  is  brass  ! ' 

Than  granting,  '  Perfect  piece  of  purest  ore  ! 

Still  is  it  less  good  mintage,  this  of  mine  ? ' 

Well,  and  these  right  and  sound  results  of  soul 

I'  the  strong  and  healthy  one  wise  man,  —  shall  such 

Be  vainly  sought  for,  scornfully  renounced 

r  the  multitude  that  make  the  entity,  — 

The  people  ?  —  to  what  purpose,  if  no  less, 


S.4  VIO UR   OF  SOCIE  TV.  2  5  T 

In  power  and  purity  of  soul,  below 

The  reach  of  the  unit  than  in  multiplied 

Might  of  the  body,  vulgarized  the  more, 

Above,  in  thick  and  threefold  brutishness  ? 

See  !  you  accept  such  one  wise  man,  myself: 

Wiser  or  less  wise,  still  I  operate 

From  my  own  stock  of  wisdom,  nor  exact 

Of  other  sort  of  natures  you  admire, 

That  whoso  rhymes  a  sonnet  pays  a  tax. 

Who  paints  a  landscape  dips  brush  at  his  cost, 

Who  scores  a  septet  true  for  strings  and  wind 

Mulcted  must  be  :  else  how  should  I  impose 

Properly,  attitudinize  aright. 

Did  such  conflicting  claims  as  these  divert 

Hohenstiel-Schwangau  from  observing  me  ? 

Therefore  what  I  find  facile,  you  be  sure, 

With  effort  or  without  it,  you  shall  dare,  — 

You,  I  aspire  to  make  my  better  self. 

And  truly  the  Great  Nation.      No  more  war 

For  war's  sake,  then  !  and  —  seeing  wickedness 

Springs  out  of  folly  —  no  more  foolish  dread 


252  PRINCE   HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

O'  tlie  neighbor  waxing  too  inordinate 

A  rival  through  his  gain  of  weaUh  and  ease  ! 

What  ? — keep  me  patient,  Powers  !  —  the  people  here, 

Earth  presses  to  her  heart,  nor  owns  a  pride 

Above  her  pride  i'  the  race  all  flame  and  air 

And  aspiration  to  the  boundless  Great, 

The  incommensurably  Beautiful, 

Whose  very  falterings  groundward  come  of  flight 

Urged  by  a  pinion  all  too  passionate 

For  heaven  and  what  it  holds  of  gloom  and  glow: 

Bravest  of  thinkers,  bravest  of  the  brave 

Doers,  exalt  in  science,  rapturous 

In  art,  the  —  more  than  all  —  magnetic  race 

To  fascinate  their  fellows,  mould  mankind 

Hohenstiel-Schwangau-fashion,  —  these,  what  ?  —  these 

Will  have  to  abdicate  their  primacy 

Should  such  a  nation  sell  them  steel  untaxed, 

And  such  another  take  itself,  on  hire 

For  the  natural  sen'night,  somebody  for  lord 

Unpatronized  by  me  whose  back  was  turned  ? 

Or  such  another  yet  would  fain  build  bridge, 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  253 

Lay  rail,  drive  tunnel,  busy  its  poor  self 
With  its  appropriate  fancy  :  so  there's  —  flash  — 
Hohenstiel-Schwangau  up  in  arras  at  once ! 
Genius  has  somewhat  of  the  infantine  ; 
But  of  the  childish  not  a  touch  nor  taint, 
Except  through  self-will,  which,  being  foolishness, 
Is  certain,  soon  or  late,  of  punishment. 
Which  Providence  avert !  —  and,  that  it  may 
Avert  what  both  of  us  would  so  deserve, 
No  foolish  dread  o'  the  neighbor,  I  enjoin  ! 
By  consequence,  no  wicked  war  with  him. 
While  I  rule ! 

Does  that  mean  —  no  war  at  all 
When  just  the  wickedness  I  here  proscribe 
Comes,  haply,  from  the  neighbor  ?     Does  my  speech 
Precede  the  praying  that  you  beat  the  sword 
To  plough-share,  and  the  spear  to  pruning-hook, 
And  sit  down  henceforth  under  your  own  vine 
And  fig-tree  through  the  sleepy  summer  month. 
Letting  what  hurly-burly  please  explode 


2  54         PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHVVANGAU, 

On  the  other  side  the  mountain-frontier  ?     No, 

Beloved  !  I  foresee  and  I  announce 

Necessity  of  warfare  in  one  case, 

For  one  cause  :  one  way,  I  bid  broach  the  blood 

O'  the  world.     For  truth  and  right,  and  only  right 

And  truth,  —  right,  truth,  on  the  absolute  scale  of  God, 

No  pettiness  of  man's  admeasurement,  — 

In  such  case  only,  and  for  such  one  cause, 

Fight  your  hearts  out,  whatever  fate  betide 

Hands  energetic  to  the  uttermost ! 

Lie  not !    Endure  no  lie  which  needs  your  heart 

And  hand  to  push  it  out  of  mankind's  path ; 

No  lie  that  lets  the  natural  forces  work 

Too  long  ere  lay  it  plain  and  pulverized, 

Seeing  man's  life  lasts  only  twenty  years  ! 

And  such  a  lie,  before  both  man  and  God. 

Being,  at  this  time  present,  Austria's  rule 

O'er  Italy,  —  for  Austria's  sake  the  first, 

Italy's  next,  and  our  sake  last  of  all. 

Come  with  me  and  deliver  Italy  ! 

Smite  hip  and  thigh  until  the  oppressor  leave 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  255 

Free  from  the  Adriatic  to  the  Alps 

The  oppressed  one  !     We  were  they  who  laid  her  low 

In  the  old  bad  day  when  Villany  braved  Truth 

And  Right,  and  laughed,  '  Henceforward,  God  deposed, 

I'he  Devil  is  to  rule  forevermore 

r  the  world  ! '  —  whereof  to  stop  the  consequence, 

And  for  atonement  of  false  glory  there 

Gaped  at  and  gabbled  over  by  the  world. 

We  purpose  to  get  God  enthroned  again 

For  what  the  world  will  gird  at  as  sheer  shame 

I'  the  cost  of  blood  and  treasure.     '  All  for  nought,  — 

Not  even,  say,  some  patch  of  province,  splice 

O'  the  frontier  ?  —  some  snug  honorarium-fee 

Shut  into  glove  and  pocketed  apace  ? ' 

(Questions  Sagacity)  '  in  deference 

To  the  natural  susceptibility 

Of  folks  at  home,  unwitting  of  that  pitch 

You  soar  to,  and  misdoubting  if  Truth,  Right, 

And  the  other  such  augustnesses,  repay 

Expenditure  in  coin  o'  the  realm,  but  prompt 

To  recognize  the  cession  of  Savoy 


256  PRhVCE   HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

And  Nice  as  marketable  value  !  '     No, 
Sagacity  !  go  preach  to  Metternich, 
And,  sermon  ended,  stay  where  he  resides  ! 
Hohenstiel-Schwangau,  you  and  I  must  march 
The  other  road  !  war  for  the  hate  of  war, 
Not  love,  this  once  !  "     So  Italy  was  free. 

What  else  noteworthy  and  commendable 

I'  the  man's  career  ?  —  that  he  was  resolute 

No  trepidation,  much  less  treachery, 

On  his  part,  should  imperil  from  its  poise 

The  ball  o'  the  world,  heaved  up  at  such  expense 

Of  pains  so  far,  and  ready  to  rebound, 

Let  but  a  finger  maladroitly  fall 

Under  pretence  of  making  fast  and  sure 

The  inch  gained  by  late  volubility, 

And  run  itself  back  to  the  ancient  rest 

At  foot  o'  the  mountain.     Thus  he  ruled,  gave  proof 

The  world  had  gained  a  point,  progressive  so. 

By  choice,  this  time,  as  will  and  power  concurred, 

0'  the  fittest  man  to  rule  ;  not  chauce  of  birth, 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  257 

Or  such-like  dice-throw.     Oft  Sagacity 

Was  at  his  ear  :  "  Confirm  this  clear  advance  ; 

Support  this  wise  procedure  !     You,  elect 

O'  the  p>eople,  mean  to  justify  their  choice, 

And  out-king  all  the  kingly  imbeciles. 

But  that's  just  half  the  enterprise  :  remains 

You  find  them  a  successor  like  yourself 

In  head  and  heart  and  eye  and  hand  and  aim, 

Or  all  done's  undone ;  and  whom  hope  to  mould 

So  like  you  as  the  pupil  Nature  sends, 

The  son  and  heir's  completeness  which  vou  lack  ? 

Lack  it  no  longer  !     Wed  the  pick  o'  the  world 

Where'er  you  think  you  find  it !     Should  she  be 

A  queen,  —  tell  Hohenstielers-Schwangauese, 

'  So  do  the  old  enthroned  decrepitudes 

Acknowledge,  in  the  rotten  hearts  of  them, 

Their  knell  is  knoUed,  they  hasten  to  make  peace 

With  the  new  order,  recognize  in  me 

Your  right  to  constitute  what  king  you  will, 

Cringe  therefore  crown  in  hand,  and  bride  on  arm, 

To  both  of  us  :  we  triumph,  I  suppose  1  ' 


258  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

Is  it  the  other  sort  of  rank  ?  —  bright  eye, 

Soft  smile,  and  so  forth,  all  her  queenly  boast  ? 

Undaunted  the  exordium,  '  I,  the  man 

O'  the  people,  with  the  people  mate  myself; 

So  stand,  so  fall.     Kings,  keep  your  crowns  and  brides 

Our  progeny  (if  Providence  agree) 

Shall  live  to  tread  the  bawbles  underfoot, 

And  bid  the  scarecrows  consort  with  their  kin. 

For  son,  as  for  his  sire,  be  the  free  wife 

In  the  free  state  ! '  " 

That  is,  Sagacit)' 
Would  prop  up  one  more  lie,  the  most  of  all 
Pernicious  fancy,  that  the  son  and  heir 
Receives  the  genius  from  the  sire,  himself 
Transmits  as  surely,  —  ask  Experience  else  ! 
Which  answers,  "  Never  was  so  plain  a  truth 
A.S  that  God  drops  his  seed  of  heavenly  flame 
Just  where  he  wills  on  earth,  —  sometimes  where  man 
Seems  to  tempt  —  such  the  accumulated  store 
Of  faculties  —  one  spark  to  fire  the  heap ; 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  259 

Sometimes  where,  fire-ball-like,  it  falls  upon 

The  naked  unprepared ness  of  rock, 

Burns,  beaconing  the  nations  through  their  night. 

Faculties,  fuel  for  the  flame  ?     All  helps 

Come,  ought  to  come,  or  come  not,  crossed  by  chance, 

From  culture  and  transmission.     What's  your  want 

I'  the  son  and  heir?     Sympathy,  aptitude. 

Teachableness,  the  fuel  for  the  flame  ? 

You'll  have  them  for  your  pains  ;  but  the  flame's  se  /, 

The  novel  thought  of  God,  shall  light  the  world  ? 

No,  poet,  though  your  offspring  rhyme  and  chime 

I'  the  cradle ;  painter,  no,  for  all  your  pet 

Draws  his  first  eye,  beats  Salvatore's  boy  ; 

And  thrice  no,  statesman,  should  your  progeny 

Tie  bib  and  tucker  wuth  no  tape  but  red. 

And  make  a  foolscap-kite  of  protocols  ! 

Critic  and  copyist  and  bureaucrat 

To  heart's  content !     The  seed  o'  the  apple-tree 

Brings  forth  another  tree  which  bears  a  crab  : 

'Tis  the  great  gardener  grafts  the  excellence 

On  wildings  where  he  will." 


26o  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SC HWANG AU, 

"  How  plain  I  view, 
Across  those  misty  years  'twixt  me  and  Rome," 
(Such  the  man's  answer  to  Sagacity,) 
"  The  little  wayside  temple,  half  way  down 
To  a  mild  river  that  makes  oxen  white 
Miraculously,  un-mouse-colors  hide, 
Or  so  the  Roman  country  people  dream  ! 
I  view  that  sweet  small  shrub-embedded  shrine 
On  the  declivity  was  sacred  once 
To  a  transmuting  Genius  of  the  land 
Could  touch  and  turn  its  dunnest  natures  bright ; 
Since  Italy  means  the  Land  of  the  Ox,  we  know. 
Well,  how  was  it  the  due  succession  fell 
From  priest  to  priest  who  ministered  i'  the  cool 
Calm  fane  o'  the  Clitumnian  god  ?     The  sire 
Brought  forth  a  son  and  sacerdotal  sprout, 
Endowed  instinctively  with  good  and  grace 
To  suit  the  gliding  gentleness  below, 
Did  he  ?     Tradition  tells  another  tale. 
Each  priest  obtained  his  predecessor's  staff. 
Robe,  fillet,  and  insignia,  blamelessly, 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  261 

By  springing  out  of  ambush,  soon  or  late, 
And  slaying  him  :  the  initiative  rite 
Simply  was  murder,  save  that  murder  took, 
r  the  case,  another  and  religious  name. 
So  it  was  once,  is  now,  shall  ever  be, 
With  genius  and  its  priesthood  in  this  world  : 
The  new  power  slays  the  old,  but  handsomely. 
There  he  lies,  not  diminished  by  an  inch 
Of  stature  that  he  graced  the  altar  with ; 
Though  somebody  of  other  bulk  and  build 
Cries,  '  What  a  goodly  personage  lies  here 
Reddening  the  water  where  the  bulrush  roots ! 
May  I  conduct  the  service  in  his  place. 
Decently  and  in  order,  as  did  he, 
And,  as  he  did  not,  keep  a  wary  watch 
When  meditating  'neath  a  willow  shade  ! ' 
Find  out  your  best  man  ;  sure  the  son  of  him 
W'ill  prove  best  man  again,  and,  better  still 
Somehow  than  best,  the  grandson-prodigy  ! 
You  think  the  world  would  last  another  day, 
Did  we  so  make  us  masters  of  the  trick 


262  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

Whereby  the  works  go,  we  could  pre-arrange 
Their  play,  and  reach  perfection  when  we  please  ? 
Depend  on  it,  the  change  and  the  surprise 
Are  part  o'  the  plan  :  'tis  we  wish  steadiness  : 
Nature  prefers  a  motion  by  unrest. 
Advancement  through  this  force  that  jostles  that. 
And  so,  since  much  remains  i'  the  world  to  see. 
Here  is  it  still,  affording  God  the  sight." 
Thus  did  the  man  refute  Sagacity 
Ever  at  this  one  whisper  in  his  ear :  — 
"  Here  are  you  picked  out  by  a  miracle. 
And  placed  conspicuously  enough,  folks  say, 
And  you  believe,  by  Providence  outright 
Taking  a  new  way  —  nor  without  success  — 
To  put  the  world  upon  its  mettle  :  good  ! 
But  Fortune  alternates  with  Providence  : 
Resource  is  soon  exhausted.     Never  count 
On  such  a  happy  hit  occurring  twice  ! 
Try  the  old  method  next  time  !  " 

"  Old  enough," 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  263 

(To  whisper  in  his  ear,  the  laugh  outbroke,) 

"  And  most  discredit*  I  of  all  the  modes 

By  just  the  men  and  women  who  make  boast 

They  are  kings  and  queens  thereby  !      Mere  self-defence 

Should  teach  them,  on  one  chapter  of  the  law 

Must  be  no  sort  of  trifling,  —  chastity : 

They  stand  or  fall  as  their  progenitors 

Were  chaste  or  unchaste.     Xow,  run  eye  around 

My  crowned  acquaintance  ;  give  each  life  its  look. 

And  no  more :  v.-hy,  \ou"d  think  each  life  was  led 

Purposely  for  example  of  what  pains 

Who  leads  it  took  to  cure  the  prejudice, 

And  prove  there's  nothing  so  unprovable 

As  who  is  who,  what  son  of  what  a  sire, 

And,  inferentialh',  how  faint  the  chance 

That  the  next  generation  needs  to  fear 

Another  fool  o"  the  selfsame  t}-pe  as  he 

Happily  regnant  now  by  right  divine 

And  luck  o'  the  pillow  !     No  :  select  your  lord 

By  the  direct  employment  of  your  brains 

As  best  you  may  :  bad  as  the  blunder  prove, 


264  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

A  far  worse  evil  stank  beneath  the  sun 
When  some  legitimate  blockhead  managed  so 
Matters,  that  high  time  was  to  interfere, 
Though  interference  came  from  hell  itself, 
And  not  the  blind  mad  miserable  mob 
Happily  ruled  so  long  by  pillow-luck 
And  divine  right ;  by  lies,  in  short,  not  truth. 
And  meanwhile  use  the  allotted  minute  — 


One, 

Two,  three,  four,  five,  —  yes,  five  the  pendule  warns  ! 

Eh  ?     Why,  this  wild  work  wanders  past  all  bound 

And  bearing  !     Exile,  Leicester  Square,  the  life 

I'  the  old  gay  miserable  time,  rehearsed, 

Tried  on  again  like  cast  clothes,  still  to  serve 

At  a  pinch,  perhaps  ?     "  Who's  who  ?  "  was  aptly  asked, 

Since  certainly  I  am  not  I !  since  when  ? 

Where  is  the  bud-mouthed  arbitress  ?     A  nod 

Out-Homering  Homer  !    Stay  ! — there  flits  the  clew 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  265 

I  fain  would  find  die  end  of!     Yes :  "  Meanwhile, 

Use  the  allotted  minute  !  "     Well,  you  see, 

(Veracious  and  imaginary  Thiers, 

Who  map  out  thus  the  life  I  might  have  led, 

But  did  not,  —  all  the  worse  for  earth  and  me,  — 

Doff  spectacles,  wipe  pen,  shut  book,  decamp  !) 

You  see  'tis  easy  in  heroics  !     Plain 

Pedestrian  speech  shall  help  me  perorate. 

Ah,  if  one  had  no  need  to  use  the  tongue  ! 

How  obvious  and  how  easy  'tis  to  talk 

Inside  the  soul,  a  ghostly  dialogue,  — 

Instincts  with  guesses,  —  instinct,  guess,  again 

With  dubious  knowledge,  half-experience  ;  each 

And  all  the  interlocutors  alike 

Subordinating,  —  as  decorum  bids. 

Oh,  never  fear !  but  still  decisively,  — 

Claims  from  without  that  take  too  high  a  tone,  — 

("God  wills  this,  man  wants  that,  the  dignity 

Prescribed  a  prince  would  wish  the  other  thing,")  — 

Putting  them  back  to  insignificance 

Beside  one  intimatest  fact,  —  myself 


266  PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL-SCHWANGAU, 

Am  first  to  be  considered,  since  I  live 

Twenty  years  longer,  and  then  end,  perhaps  ! 

But,  where  one  ceases  to  soliloquize, 

Somehow  the  motives,  that  did  well  enough 

I'  the  darkness,  when  you  bring  them  into  light 

Are  found,  like  those  famed  cave-fish,  to  lack  eye 

And  organ  for  the  upper  magnitudes. 

The  other  common  creatures,  of  less  fine 

Existence,  that  acknowledge  earth  and  heaven, 

Have  it  their  own  way  in  the  argument. 

Yes,  forced  to  speak,  one  stoops  to  say  —  one's  aim 

Was  —  what  it  peradventure  should  have  been,  — 

To  renovate  a  people  \  mend  or  end 

That  bane  come  of  a  blessing  meant  the  world  ; 

Inordinate  culture  of  the  sense  made  quick 

By  soul ;  the  lust  o'  the  flesh,  lust  of  the  eye, 

And  pride  of  life ;  and,  consequent  on  these, 

The  worship  of  that  prince  o'  the  power  o'  the  air 

Who  paints  the  cloud  and  fills  the  emptiness. 

And  bids  his  votaries,  famishing  for  truth. 

Feed  on  a  lie. 


SAVIOUR   OF  SOCIETY.  267 

Alack,  one  lies  one's  self 
Even  in  the  stating  that  one's  end  was  truth, 
Truth  only,  if  one  states  as  much  in  words ! 
Give  me  the  inner  chamber  of  the  soul 
For  obvious  easy  argument !   'tis  there 
One  pits  the  silent  truth  against  a  lie,  — 
Truth  which  breaks  shell  a  careless,  simple  bird, 
Nor  wants  a  gorget  nor  a  beak  filed  fine, 
Steel  spurs,  and  the  whole  armory  o'  the  tongue. 
To  equalize  the  odds.     But,  do  your  best. 
Words  have  to  come  ;  and,  somehow,  words  deflect 
As  the  best  cannon  ever  rifled  will. 

So,  i'  the  Residenz  yet,  not  Leicester  Square, 
Alone,  —  no  such  congenial  intercourse !  — 
My  revery  concludes,  as  dreaming  should. 
With  daybreak  :  nothing  done  and  over  yet, 
Except  cigars  !     The  adventure  thus  may  be. 
Or  never  needs  to  be  at  all :  who  knows  ? 
My  Cousin-Duke,  perhaps,  at  whose  hard  head  — 
Is  it,  now  —  is  this  letter  to  be  launched. 


268 


PRINCE  HOHENSriEL-SCHWANGAU. 


The  sight  of  whose  gray  oblong,  and  whose  seal, 
Set  all  these  fancies  floating  for  an  hour  ? 

Twenty  years  are  good  gain,  come  what  come  will  1 
Double  or  quits  I     The  letter  goes  !     Or  stays  ? 


HERVE    RIEL. 


HERVE    RIEL. 


On  the  sea  and  at  the  Hogue,  sixteen  hundred  ninety- 
two, 
Did  the  English  fight  the  French,  —  woe  to  France  ! 

And  the  thirty-first  of  May,  helter-skelter  through  the 
blue. 

Like  a  crowd  of  frightened  porpoises  a  shoal  of  sharks 
pursue, 
Came   crowding  ship   on    ship    to    St.    Malo    on    the 
Ranee, 

With  the  English  fleet  in  view. 


I 


272  HERVE  RIEL. 

'Twas  the  squadron  that  escaped,  with  the  victor  in  full 
chase : 
First  and  foremost  of  the  drove,  in  his  great  ship, 
Damfreville ; 
Close  on  him  fled,  great  and  small, 
Twenty-two  good  ships  in  all ; 
And  they  signalled  to  the  place, 
"  Help  the  winners  of  a  race  ! 
Get  us  guidance,  give  us  harbor,  take  us  quick ;  or, 

quicker  still. 
Here's  the  English  can  and  will !  " 

Then  the  pilots  of  the  place  put  out  brisk,  and  leaped  on 
board : 
"  Why,  what  hope  or  chance  have  ships  like  these  to 
pass  ?  "  laughed  they  : 
"  Rocks   to   starboard,  rocks   to   port,   all    the    passage 

scarred  and  scored, 
Shall  the  '  Formidable  '  here  with  her  twelve  and  eighty 
guns 
Think  to  make  the  river-mouth  by  the  single  narrow  way, 


HERVE  RIEL.  273 

Trust  to  enter  where  'i-is  ticklish  for  a  craft  of  twenty  tons, 
And  with  flow  at  full  beside  ? 
Now  'tis  slackest  ebb  of  tide. 
Reach  the  mooring  ?     Rather  say, 
While  rock  stands,  or  water  runs, 
Not  a  ship  will  leave  the  bay  !  " 

Then  was  called  a  council  straight : 

Brief  and  bitter  the  debate. 

"  Here's  the  English  at  our  heels  :  would  you  have  them 

take  in  tow 
All  that's  left  us  of  the  fleet,  linked  together  stern  and 

bow, 
For  a  prize  to  Plymouth  Sound  ? 
Better  run  the  ships  aground  !  " 

(Ended  Damfreville  his  speech.) 
'•'  Not  a  minute  more  to  wait ! 
Let  the  captains  all  and  each 

Shove  ashore,  then  blow  up,  burn  the  vessels  on  the 
beach ! 
France  must  undergo  her  fate." 


274  HERVE  KIEL. 

"  Give  the  word  !  "     But  no  such  word 
Was  ever  spoke  or  heard  : 

For  up  stood,  for  out  stepped,  for  in  struck,  amid  all 
these,  — 
A  captain  ?  a  lieutenant  ?  a  mate,  —  first,  second,  third  ? 
No  such  man  of  mark,  and  meet 
With  his  betters  to  compete  ! 

But  a  simple  Breton  sailor  pressed  by  Tourville  for 
the  fleet, 
A  poor  coasting-pilot  he,  —  Herve  Riel  the  Croisick- 
ese. 

And  "  What  mockery  or  malice  have  we  here  ?  "  cries 
Herve  Riel. 
"  Are  you  mad,  you    Malouins  ?     Are   you    cowards, 
fools,  or  rogues  ? 
Talk  to  me  of  rocks  and  shoals  ?  —  me,  who  took  the 

soundings,  tell 
On  my  fingers  every  bank,  every  shallow,  everj.-  swell, 
'Twixt  the  offing  here  and  Greve,  where  the  river  dis 
embogues  ? 


HERVE  KIEL.  275 

Are  you  bought  by  '^nglish  gold?     Is  it  love  the  lying's 
for? 
Morn  and  eve,  night  and  day, 
Have  I  piloted  your  bay, 
Entered  free  and  anchored  fast  at  the  foot  of  Solidor. 
Burn  the  fleet,  and  ruin  France  ?     That  were  worse 
than  fifty  Hogues ! 
Sirs,  they  know  I   speak  the  truth!     Sirs,  believe 
me,  there's  a  way  ! 
Only  let  me  lead  the  line. 

Have  the  biggest  ship  to  steer. 
Get  this  '  Formidable  '  clear. 
Make  the  others  follow  mine, 

A.nd  I  lead  them,  most  and  least,  by  a  passage  I  know 
well. 
Right  to  Solidor,  past  Greve, 

And  there  lay  them  safe  and  sound ; 
And,  if  one  ship  misbehave,  — 

Keel  so  much  as  grate  the  ground,  — 
Why,  I've  nothing  but  my  life :  here's  my  head  !  "  cries 
Herve  Riel. 


276  HERVE  RIEL. 

Not  a  minute  more  to  wait. 

"  Steer  us  in,  then,  small  and  great  ! 

Take  the  helm,  lead  the  line,  save  the  squadron  !  " 
cried  its  chief. 
Captains,  give  the  sailor  place  ! 

He  is  admiral,  in  brief. 
Still  the  north  wind,  by  God's  grace. 
See  the  noble  fellow's  face, 
As  the  big  ship,  with  a  bound, 
Clears  the  entry  like  a  hound. 

Keeps  the  passage  as  its  inch  of  way  were   the   wide 
sea's  profound ! 

See,  safe  through  shoal  and  rock, 

How  they  follow  in  a  flock  ! 
Not  a  ship  that  misbehaves,  not  a  keel  that  grates  the 
ground, 

Not  a  spar  that  comes  to  grief! 
The  peril,  see;  is  past ! 
All  are  harbored  to  the  last ! 

And,  just  as  Herve  Riel  hollas  "Anchor! "  sure  as  fate, 
Up  the  English  come,  —  too  late  ! 


HERVE  RIEL.  ^77 

So  the  storm  subside^  to  calm  : 

They  see  the  green  trees  wave 

On  the  heights  o'erlooking  Greve  ; 
Hearts  that  bled  are  stanched  with  balm. 
"  Just  our  rapture  to  enhance, 

Let  the  English  rake  the  bay, 
Gnash  their  teeth,  and  glare  askance 

As  they  cannonade  away  ! 
'Neath  rampired  Solidor  pleasant  riding  on  the  Ranee  !  " 
How  hope  succeeds  despair  on  each  captain's   counte- 
nance ! 
Outburst  all  with  one  accord, 

"  This  is  paradise  for  hell  ! 
Let  France,  let  France's  king, 
Thank  the  man  that  did  the  thing !  " 
What  a  shout,  and  all  one  word, 

"  Herve  Kiel !  " 
As  he  stepped  in  front  once  more ; 

Not  a  symptom  of  surprise 

In  the  frank  blue  Breton  eyes,  — 
Just  the  same  man  as  before. 


278  HERVE  RIEL. 

Then  said  Damfreville,  "  My  friend, 
I  must  speak  out  at  the  end, 

Though  I  find  the  speaking  hard : 
Praise  is  deeper  than  the  Hps : 
You  have  saved  the  king  his  ships ; 

You  must  name  your  own  reward. 
'Faith,  our  sun  was  near  eclipse  ! 
Demand  whate'er  you  will, 
France  remains  your  debtor  still. 

Ask  to  heart's  content,  and  have!    or  my  name's  not 
Damfreville." 


Then  a  beam  of  fun  outbroke 
On  the  bearded  mouth  that  spoke. 
As  the  honest  heart  laughed  through 
Those  frank  eyes  of  Breton  blue  :  — 
"  Since  I  needs  must  say  my  say  3 

Since  on  board  the  duty's  done. 

And  from  Malo  Roads  to  Croisic  Point  what  is  it  but 
a  run  ?  — 


NERVE  KIEL.  279 

Since  'tis  ask  and  have,  I  may ; 

Since  the  others  go  ashore,  — 
Come  !     A  good  whole  holiday ! 

Leave  to  go  and  see  my  wife,  whom  I  call  the  Belle 
Aurore ! " 

That  he  asked,  and  that  he  got,  —  nothing  more. 

Name  and  deed  alike  are  lost  : 
Not  a  pillar  nor  a  post 

In  his  Croisic  keeps  alive  the  feat  as  it  befell  \ 
Not  a  head  in  white  and  black 
On  a  single  fishing-smack 

In   memor}^  of  the   man   but   for   whom   had    gone   to 
wrack 
All  that  France  saved  from  the  fight  whence  England 
bore  the  bell. 
Go  to  Paris  ;  rank  on  rank 

Search  the  heroes  flung  pell-mell 
On  the  Louvre,  face  and  flank  : 

You  shall  look  long  enough  ere  you  come  to  Her\'e 
Riel. 


2  8o  HERVE  KIEL. 

So,  for  better  and  for  worse, 
Herve  Riel,  accept  my  verse  ! 
In  my  verse,  Herve  Riel,  do  thou  once  more 
Save  the  squadron,  honor  France,  love  thy  wife  the  Belle 
Aurore ! 


RED  COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

OR, 

TURF  AND   TOWERS. 


To 


Miss   Thackeray. 


Red  Cotton  Night-cap  Country; 

OR, 

TURF  AND   TOWERS. 


I. 

And  so,  here  happily  we  meet,  fair  friend ! 
Again  once  more,  as  if  the  years  rolled  back, 
And  this  our  meeting-place  were  just  that  Rome 
Out  in  the  champaign,  say,  o'er-rioted 
By  verdure,  ravage,  and  gay  winds  that  war 
Against  strong  sunshine  settled  to  his  sleep  ; 
Or  on  the  Paris  Boulevard,  might  it  prove, 
^'ou  and  I  came  together  saunteringly, 


284        RED  COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

Bound  for  some  shop-front  in  the  Place  Vendome  — 
Gold-smithy  and  Golconda  mine,  that  makes 
"The  Firm-Miranda"  blazed  about  the  world  — 
Or,  what  if  it  were  London,  where  my  toe 
Trespassed  upon  your  flounce  ?    "  Small  blame,"  you 

smile, 
Seeing  the  Stair-case  Party  in  the  Square 
Was  Small  and  Early,  and  you  broke  no  rib. 

Even  as  we  met  where  we  have  met  so  oft. 
Now  meet  we  on  this  unpretending  beach 
Below  the  little  village  :    little,  ay  ! 
But  pleasant,  may  my  gratitude  subjoin  ? 
Meek,  hitherto  un-Murrayed  bathing-place. 
Best  loved  of  sea-coast-nook-full  Normandy ! 
That,  just  behind  you,  is  mine  own  hired  house : 
With  right  of  path-way  through  the  field  in  front, 
No  prejudice  to  all  its  growth  unsheaved 
Of  emerald  luzern  bursting  into  blue. 
Be  sure  I  keep  the  path  that  hugs  the  wall, 
Of  mornings,  as  I  pad  from  door  to  gate ! 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  285 

Von  yellow  —  what  if  not  wild-mustard  flower?  — 

Of  that,  my  naked  sole  makes  lawful  prize, 

Bruising  the  acrid  aromatics  out. 

Till,  what  they  preface,  good  salt  savors  sting 

From,  first,  the  sifted  sands,  then  sands  in  slab, 

Smooth  save  for  pipy  wreath-work  of  the  worm: 

(Granite  and  mussel-shell  are  ground  alike 

To  glittering  paste, — the  live  worm  troubles  yet.) 

Then,  dry  and  moist,  the  varech  limit-line. 

Burnt  cinder-black,  with  brown  uncrumpled  swathe 

Of  berried  softness,  sea-swoln  thrice  its  size ; 

And,  lo,  the  wave  protrudes  a  lip  at  last. 

And  flecks  my  foot  with  froth,  nor  tempts  in  vain. 

*     Such  is  Saint-Rambert,  wilder  veiy  much 

Than  Joyeux,  that  famed  Joyous-Gard  of  yours. 
Some  five  miles  farther  down ;   much  homelier  too  — • 
Right  for  me,  —  right  for  you  the  fine  and  fair ! 
Only,  I  could  endure  a  transfer  —  wrought 
By  angels  famed  still,  through  our  countryside, 
For  weights  they  fetched  and  carried  in  old  time 


286        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP   COITNTRY ; 

When  nothing  like  the  need  was  —  transfer,  just 
Of  Joyeux  church,  exchanged  for  yonder  prig, 
Our  brand-new  stone  cream-colored  masterpiece. 

Well  —  and  you  know,  and  not  since  this  one  yeir, 

The  quiet  seaside  country  ?     So  do  I : 

And  like  it,  in  a  manner,  just  because 

Nothing  is  prominently  likable 

To  vulgar  eye  without  a  soul  behind, 

Which,  breaking  surface,  brings  before  the  ball 

Of  sight,  a  beauty  buried  everywhere. 

If  we  have  souls,  know  how  to  see  and  use, 

One  place  performs,  like  any  other  place. 

The  proper  service  every  pLace  on  earth 

Was  framed  to  furnish  man  with:    serves  alike 

To  give  him  note  that,  through  the  place  he  sees, 

A  place  is  signified  he  never  saw. 

But,  if  he  lack  not  soul,  may  learn  to  know. 

Earth's  ugliest  walled  and  ceiled  imprisonment 

May  suffer,  through  its  single  rent  in  roof, 

Admittance  of  a  cataract  of  light 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  287 

Beyond  attainment  through  earth's  palace-panes 

Pinholed  athwart  their  windowed  filagree 

By  twinklings  sobered  from  the  sun  outside. 

Doubtless  the  High  Street  of  our  village  here 

Imposes  hardly  as  Rome's  Corso  could : 

And  our  projected  race  for  sailing-boats 

Next  Sunday,  when  we  celebrate  our  Saint, 

Falls  very  short  of  that  attractiveness, 

That  artistry  in  festive  spectacle, 

Paris  insures  you  when  she  welcomes  back 

(When  shall  it  be?)  the  Assembly  from  Versailles; 

While  the  best  fashion  and  intelligence 

Collected  at  the  counter  of  our  Mayor 

(Dry  goods  he  deals  in,  grocery  beside) 

What  time  the  post-bag  brings  the  news  from  Vire, — 

I  fear  me  much,  it  scarce  would  hold  its  own. 

That  circle,  that  assorted  sense  and  wit, 

With  Five  o'clock  Tea  in  a  house  we  know. 

Still,  'tis  the  check  that  gives  the  leap  its  lift. 
The  nullity  of   cultivated  souls. 


288        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

Even  advantaged  by  their  news  from  Vire, 

Only  conduces  to  enforce  the  truth 

That,  thirty  paces  off,  this  natural  blue 

Broods  o'er  a  bag  of   secrets,  all  unbroached, 

Beneath  the  bosom  of   the  placid  deep. 

Since  first  the  Post  Director  sealed  them  safe ; 

And  formidable  I  perceive  this  fact  — 

Little  Saint-Rambert  touches  the  great  sea. 

From  London,  Paris,  Rome,  where  men  are  men. 

Not  mice,  and  mice  not  Mayors  presumably, 

Thought  scarce  may  leap  so  fast,  alight  so  far. 

But  this  is  a  pretence,  you  understand. 

Disparagement  in  play,  to  pariy  thrust 

Of   possible  objector :    nullity 

And  ugliness,  the  taunt  be  his,  not  mine 

Nor  yours,  —  I  think  we  know  the  world  too  well  ! 

Did  you  walk  hither,  jog  it  by  the  plain, 

Or  jaunt  it  by  the  highway,  braving  bruise 

From  springless  and  uncushioned  vehicle  ? 

Much,  was  there  not,  in  place  and  people  both. 

To  lend  an  eye  to?   and  what  eye  like  yours  — 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  2S9 

The  learned  eye  is  still  the  loving  one  ! 

Our  land  ;   its  quietude,  productiveness, 

Its  length  and  breadth  of  grain-crop,  meadow-ground, 

Its  orchards  in  the  pasture,  farms  a-field, 

And  hamlets  on  the  road-edge,  nought  you  missed 

Of   one  and  all  the  sweet  rusticities ! 

From  stalwart  strider  by  the  wagon-side, 

Brightening  the  acre  with  his  purple  blouse, 

To  those  dark-featured  comely  women-folk, 

Healthy  and  tall,  at  work,  and  work  indeed, 

On  ever}'  cottage  door-step,  plying  brisk 

Bobbins  that  bob  you  ladies  out  such  lace ! 

Oh,  you  obsen-ed  !    and  how  that  nimble  play 

Of  finger  formed  the  sole  exception,  bobbed 

The  one  disturbance  to  the  peace  of   things. 

Where  nobody  esteems  it  worth  his  while. 

If   time  upon  the  clock-face  goes  asleep, 

To  give  the  rusted  hands  a  helpful  push. 

Nobody  lifts  an  energetic  thumb 

And  index  to  remove  some  dead  and  gone 

Notice  which,  posted  on  the  barn,  repeats 


290        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY: 

For  truth  what  two  years'  passage  made  a  lie. 
Still  is  for  sale,  next  June,  that  same  chateau 
With  all  its  immobilities,  —  were  sold 
Duly  next  June  behind  the  last  but  last ; 
And,  woe's  me,  still  placards  the  Emperor 
His  confidence  in  war  he  means  to  wage, 
God  aiding  and  the  rural  populace. 
No :    rain  and  wind  must  rub  the  rags  away, 
And  let  the  lazy  land  untroubled  snore. 

Ah,  in  good  truth  ?   and  did  the  drowsihead 
So  suit,  so  soothe  the  learned  loving  eye, 
That  you  were  minded  to  confer  a  crown, 
(Does  not  the  poppy  boast  such  ?)  call  the  land 
By  one  slow  hither-thither  stretching,  fast 
Subsiding-into-slumber  sort  of  name, 
Symbolic  of   the  place  and  people  too, 
'"■  JV/itie  Cotton  Night-cap  Country?''     Excellent! 
For  they  do,  all,  dear  women  young  and  old, 
Upon  the  heads  of    them  bear  notably 
This  badge  of   soul  and  body  in  repose  ; 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  291 

Nor  its  fine  thimble  fits  the  acorn-top, 

Keeps  woolly  ward  above  that  oval  brown, 

Its  placid  feature,  more  than  muffler  makes 

A  safeguard,  circumvents  intelligence 

In — what  shall  evermore  be  named  and  famed, 

If   happy  nomenclature  aught  avail, 

"  White  Cotton  Night-cap  Country." 

Do  I  hear  — 
Oh,  better,  very  best  of   all  the  news  — 
You  mean  to  catch  and  cage  the  winged  word, 
And  make  it  breed  and  multiply  at  home 
Till  Norman  idlesse  stock  our  England  too  ? 
Normandy  shown  minute  yet  magnified 
In  one  of   those  small  books,  the  truly  great. 
We  never  know  enough,  yet  know  so  well  ? 
How  I  foresee  the  cursive  diamond-dints, — 
Composite  pen  that  plays  the  pencil  too, — 
As,  touch  the  page  and  up  the  glamour  goes, 
And  filmily  o'er  grain-crop,  meadow-ground. 
O'er  orchard  in  the  pasture,  farm  a-field, 


292        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

And  hamlet  on  the  road-edge,  floats  and  forms 

And  falls,  at  lazy  last  of  all,  the   Cap 

That  crowns  the  countr}- !    we,  awake  outside, 

Farther  than  ever  from  the  imminence 

Of  what  cool  comfort,  what  close  coverture 

Your  magic,  deftly  weaving,  shall  surround 

The  unconscious  captives  with.     Be  theirs  to  drowse 

Trammelled,  and  ours  to  watch  the  trammel-trick  ! 

Ours  be  it,  as  we  con  the  book  of   books. 

To  wonder  how  is  winking  possible  ! 

All  hail,  "White  Cotton  Night-cap  Countr}',"  then! 
And  yet,  as  on  the  beach  you  promise  book,  — 
On  beach,  mere  razor-edge  'twixt  earth  and  sea, 
I  stand  at  such  a  distance  from  the  world 
That  'tis  the  whole  world  which  obtains  regard, 
Rather  than  any  part,  though  part  presumed 
A  perfect  little  province  in  itself. 
When  w^aj-fare  made  acquaintance  first  therewith. 
So  standing,  therefore,  on  this  edge  of   things, 
What  if  the  backward  glance  I  gave,  return 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  293 

Loaded  with  other  spoils  of   vagrancy 
Than  I  despatched  it  for,  till  I  propose 
The  question  —  puzzled  by  the  sudden  store 
Officious  fancy  plumps  beneath  my  nose  — 
"Which  sort  of   Night-cap  have  you  glorified?" 

You  would  be  gracious  to  my  ignorance  : 

"\\niat  other  Night-cap  than  the  normal  one?  — 

Old  honest  guardian  of   man's  head  and  hair 

In  its  elastic  yet  continuous,  soft, 

No  less  persisting,  circumambient  gripe, 

Night's  notice,  life  is  respited  from  day ! 

Its  form  and  fashion  vary  suiting  so 

Each  seasonable  want  of   youth  and  age. 

In  infancy,  the  rosy  naked  ball 

Of  brain,  and  that  faint  golden  fluff   it  bears, 

Are  smothered  from  disaster, — mu'ses  know 

By  what  foam-fabric  ;   but  when  youth  succeeds, 

The  sterling  value  of   the  article 

Discards  adornment,  cap  is  cap  henceforth 

Unfeathered  by  the  futile  row  on  row. 


\ 


294        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Manhood  strains  hard  a  sturdy  stocking-stiiff 

O'er  w-ell-deser\-ing  head  and  ears:    the  cone 

Is  tassel-tipt,  commendably  takes  pride, 

Announcing  workday  done  and  wages  pouched, 

And  libertv-  obtained  to  sleep,  nay,  snore. 

Unwise,  he  peradventure  shall  essay 

The  sweets  of   independency  for  once  — 

Waive  its  advantage  on  his  wedding-night: 

Fool,  only  to  resume  it,  night  the  next, 

And  never  part  companionship  again. 

Since,  with  advancing  years,  night's  solace  soon 

Intrudes  upon  the  daybreak  dubious  life, 

Persuades  it  to  appear  the  thing  it  is. 

Half-sleep  ;   and  so,  encroaching  more  and  more. 

It  lingers  long  past  the  abstemious  meal 

Of  morning,  and,  as  prompt  to  serve,  precedes 

The  supper-summons,  gruel  grown  a  feast. 

Finally,  when  the  last  sleep  finds  the  eye 

So  tired  it  cannot  even  shut  itself. 

Does  not  a  kind  domestic  hand  unite 

Friend  to  friend,  lid  from  lid  to  part  no  more. 


OR^  TURF  AND    TOWERS.  295 

Consigned  alike  to  that  receptacle 

So  bleak  without,  so  warm  and  white  within  ? 

"  Night-caps,  night  comfort  of   the  human  race  : 

Their  usage  may  be  growing  obsolete, 

Still,  in  the  main,  the  institution  stays. 

And  though  yourself  may  possibly  have  lived. 

And  probably  will  die,  undignified  — 

The  Never-night-capped  —  more  experienced  folk 

Laugh  you  back  answer  —  What  should  Night-cap  be 

Save  Night-cap  pure  and  simple  ?     Sorts  of   such  ? 

Take  cotton  for  the  medium,  cast  an  eye 

This  side  to  comfort,  lambswool,  or  the  like. 

That  side  to  frilly  cambric  costliness. 

And  all  between  proves  Night-cap  proper."     Add 

"  Fiddle  ! "  and  I  confess  the  argument. 

Only,  your  ignoramus  here  again 
Proceeds  as  tardily  to  recognize 
Distinctions :    ask  him  what  a  fiddle  means, 
And  "  Just  a  fiddle  "  seems  the  apt  reply. 


296         RED   COTTON  N/GHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

Yet,  is  not  there,  while  we  two  pace  the  beach, 

This  blessed  moment,  at  your  Kensington, 

A  special  Fiddle-Show  and  rare  array 

Of   all  the  sorts  were  ever  set  to  cheek, 

'Stablished  on  clavicle,  sawn  bow-hand-wise, 

Or  touched  lute-fashion  and  fore-finger-plucked? 

I  doubt  not  there  be  duly  catalogued 

Achievements  all  and  some  of   Italy, 

Guarnerius,  Straduarius, — old  and  new, 

Augustly  rude,  refined  to  finicking, 

This  mammoth  with  his  belly  full  of   blare. 

That  mouse  of   music  —  inch-long  silver}-  wheeze. 

And  here  a  specimen  has  effloresced 

Into  the  scroll-head,  there  subsides  supreme. 

And  with  the  tail-piece  satisfies  mankind. 

Why   should   I    speak   of    woods,   grains,   stains   and 

streaks, 
The  topaz  varnish  or  the  ruby  gum  ? 
We  preferably  pause  where  tickets  teach, 
"  Over  this  sample  would   Corelli  croon, 
Grieving,  by  minors,  like  the  cushat-dove, 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  297 

Most  dulcet  Giga,  dreamiest  Saraband." 

"  From  this  did  Paganini  comb  tlie  fierce 

Electric  sparks,  or  to  tenuit}^ 

Pull  forth  the  inmost  wailing  of  the  wire  — 

No  cat-gut  could  swoon  out  so  much  of  soul !  " 

Three  hundred  violin-varieties 

Exposed  to  public  view  !      And  dare   I  doubt 

Some  future  enterprise  shall  give  the  world 

Quite   as  remarkable  a  Night-cap-show  ? 

Methinks,  we,  arm-in-arm,   that  festal   day, 

Pace  the  long  range  of  relics  shrined  aright, 

Framed,  glazed,  each  cushioned  curiosity, 

And  so  begin  to  smile  and  to  inspect : 

"Pope's  sickly  head-sustainment,  damped  with  dews 

Wrung  from  the   all-unfair  fight  —  such  a  frame  — 

Though  doctor  and  the  devil  helped  their  best — - 

Fought  such  a  world  that,  waiving  doctor's  help, 

Had  the  mean  devil  at  its   service  too ! 

Voltaire's  imperial  velvet !      Hogarth  eyed 

The  thumb-nail  record  of  some   alley-phiz, 


298         RED  COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

Then  chucklingly  clapped  yonder  cosiness 

On  pate,  and  painted  with  true  flesh    and  blood  ! 

Poor  hectic  Cowper's  soothing  sarsnet-stripe  ! " 

And  so  we  profit  by  the  catalogue, 

Somehow  our  smile   subsiding  more  and  more, 

Till  we  decline  into  .  .  but  no  !    shut  eyes 

And  hurry  past  the  shame  uncoffined  here, 

The  hangman's  toilet !     If  we  needs  must  trench, 

For  science'  sake  which  craves  completeness  still, 

On  the  sad  confine,  not  the  district's  self. 

The  object  that  shall  close  review  may  be  .  .  . 

Well,   it  is  French,  and  here  are  we  in  France  : 

It  is  historic,  and  we  live  to  learn, 

And  try  to  learn  by  reading  story-books. 

It  is  an  incident  of  'Ninety-two, 

And,   twelve   months    since,    the    Commune    had    the 

sway. 
Therefore  resolve  that,  after  all  the  Whites 
Presented  you,  a  solitary  Red 
Shall  pain  us  both,  a  minute  and  no  more  ! 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  299 

Do  not  you  see  poor  Louis  pushed  to  front 
Of  pabce-window,  in  persuasion's  name, 
A  spectacle  above  the  howling  mob 
Who  tasted,  as  it  were,  with  tiger-smack, 
The  outstart,  the  first  spurt  of  blood  on  brow, 
The  Phrygian  symbol,  the  new  crown  of  thorns, 
The  Cap  of  Freedom  ?     See  the  feeble  mirth 
At  odds  with  that  half-p\irpose  to  be  strong 
And  merely  patient  under  misery ! 
And  note  the  ejaculation,  ground  so  hard 
Between  his  teeth,  that  only  God  could  hear, 
As  the  lean  pale  proud  insignificance 
With  the  sharp-featured  liver-worried  stare 
Out  of  the  tAVO  gray  points  that  did  him  stead, 
And  passed  their  eagle-owner  to  the  front 
Better  than  his  mob-elbowed  undersize, — 
The   Corsican  lieutenant  commented, 
"Had  I  but  one  good  regiment  of  my  ow^n. 
How  soon  should  volleys  to  the  due  amount 
Lay  stiff  upon  the  street-flags  this  canaille  1 
As  for  the  droll  there,  he  that  plays  the  king, 


300        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

And   screws  out  smile  with  a  Red  night-cap  on, 
He's  done  for !    somebody  must  take  his  place." 
White  Cotton  Night-cap   Country :  excellent ! 
Why  not  Red  Cotton  Night-cap   Country  too? 

"  Why    not     say    swans    are    black    and    blackbirds 

white, 
Because  the-  instances  exist  ?  "    you  ask. 
"  Enough  that  white,  not  red,  predominates. 
Is  normal,  typical,  in  cleric  phrase 
Quod  semd,  semper,   et  ubique."     Here, 
Applying  such  a  name  to  such  a  land. 
Especially  you  find  inopportune, 
Impertinent,  my  scruple  whether  white 
Or  red  describes  the   local  color  best. 
"  Let  be,"  (you  say)  "  the  universe   at  large 
Supplied  us  with  exceptions  to  the  rule. 
So  manifold,  they  bore  no  passing-by,  — 
Little   Saint-Rambert  has  conserved  at  least 
The  pure  tradition :     white  from   head  to  heel, 
Where   is  a  hint  of  the  ungracious  hue .'' 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  301 

See,  we  have  traversed  with  hop,  step  and  jump, 
From  heel  to  head,  the  main-street  in  a  trice, 
Measured  the  garment  (help  my  metaphor ! ) 
Not  merely  criticised  the  cap,  forsooth; 
And  were  you  pricked  by  that  collecting-itch, 
That  pruriency  for  wTiting  o'er  your  reds 
'Rare,  rarer,  rarest,  not  rare  but  unique,'  — 
The  shelf,  Saint-Rambert,  of  your  cabinet, 
Unlabelled, — virginal,  no   Rahab-thread 
For  blushing  token  of  the  spy's  success,  — 
Would  taunt  with  vacancy,  I  undertake ! 
What,  yonder  is  your  best  apology. 
Pretence  at  most  approach  to  naughtiness, 
Impingement  of  the  ruddy  on  the  blank? 
This  is  the  criminal  Saint-Rambertese 
Who  smuggled  in  tobacco,  half  a  pound  ! 
The  Octroi  found  it  out  and  fined  the  wretch. 
This  other  is  the  culprit  who  despatched 
A  hare,  he  thought  a  hedgehog,  (clods  obstruct) 
Unfurnished  \vith  Permission  for  the  Chase  ! 
As  to  the  womankind  —  renounce  from  those 


302        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

The  hope  of  getting  a  companion-tinge, 
First  faint  touch  promising  romantic  fault !  " 

Enough:   there  stands  Red  Cotton  Night-cap  shelf - 
A  cavern's  ostentatious  vacancy  — 
M}'  contribution  to  the  show;   while  yours  — 
White,  heaps  your  row  of  pegs  from  every  hedge 
Outside,  and  house  inside  Saint-Rambert  here  — 
We  soon  have  come  to  end  of.     See,  the  church 
With  its  white  steeple  gives  your  challenge  point, 
Perks  as  it  were  the  night-cap  of  the  town, 
Starchedly  warrants  all  beneath  is  matched 
By  all  above,  one  snowy  innocence  ! 

You  put  me  on  my  mettle.     British  maid 
And  British  man,  suppose  we  have  it  out 
Here  in  the  fields,  decide  the  question  so? 
Then,  British  fashion,  shake  hands  hard  again, 
Go  home  together,  friends  the  more  confirmed 
That  one  of  us  —  assuredly  myself — 
Looks  puffy  about  eye,  and  pink  at  nose? 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  303 

"Which  "  pink  "  reminds  me  that  the  arduousness 

We  both  acknowledge  in  the  enterprise, 

Claims,  counts  upon  a  large  and  liberal 

Acceptance  of  as  good  as  victory 

In  whatsoever  just  escapes  defeat. 

You  must  be  generous,  strain  point,  and  call 

Victory,  any  the  least  flush  of  pink 

Made  prize  of,  labelled  scarlet  for  the  nonce  — 

Faintest  pretension  to  be  wrong  and  red 

And  picturesque,  that  varies  by  a  splotch 

The  righteous  flat  of  insipidity. 

Quick  to  the  quest,  then  —  forward,  the  firm  foot ! 

Onward,  the  quarry-overtaking  eye  ! 

For  what  is  this,  by  way  of  march-tune,  makes 

The  musicalist  buzzing  at  my   ear 

By  re-assurance  of  that  promise  old 

Though  sins  are  scarlet  they  shall  be  as  wool? 

Whence  —  what  fantastic  hope  do  I  deduce  ? 

I  am  no  Liebig :    when  the  dyer  dyes 

A  texture,  can  the  red  die  prime  the  white  ? 


304        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

And  if  we  washed  well,  wrung  the  texture  hard, 
Would  we  arrive,  here,  there  and  everywhere, 
A.t  a  fierce  ground  beneath  the  surface  meek  ? 

I  take  the  first  chance,  rub  to  threads  what  rag 

Shall  flutter  snowily  in  sight.     For  see  ! 

Already  these  few  yards  upon  the  rise, 

Our  back  to  brave  Saint-Rambert,  how  we  reach 

The  open,  at  a  dozen  steps  or  strides  ! 

Turn  round  and  look  about,  a  breathing-while  1 

There  lie,  out-spread  at  equidistance,  thorpes 

And  villages  and  towns  along  the  coast. 

Distinguishable,  each  and  all  alike, 

By  white  persistent  Night-cap,  spire  on  spire. 

Take  the  left :  yonder  town  is  —  what  say  you 

If  I  say  "  Londres  "  ?     Ay,  the  mother-mouse 

(Reversing  fable,  as  truth  can  and  will) 

Which  gave  our  mountain  of  a  London  birth  ! 

This  is  the  Conqueror's  country,  bear  in  mind. 

And  Londres-district  blooms  with  London-pride. 

Turn  round  :  La  Roche,  to  right,  where  oysters  thrive 


OR,    TURP  AND    ROWERS.  305 

Monlieu  —  the  lighthouse  is  a  telegraph; 
This,  full  in  front,  Saint-Rambert ;  then  succeeds 
Villeneuve,  and  Pons  the  Young  with  Pons  the  Old, 
And  —  ere  faith  points  to  Joyeux,  out  of  sight, 
A  little  nearer —  oh,  La  Ravissante  ! 

There  now  is  something  like  a  Night-cap  spire, 

Donned  by  no  ordinary  Notre-Dame  ! 

For,  one  of  the  three  safety-guards  of  France, 

You  front  now,  lady  !     Nothing  intercepts 

The  privilege,  by  crow-flight,  two  miles  far. 

She  and  her  sisters  Lourdes  and  La  Salette 

Are  at  this  moment  hailed  the  cynosure 

Of  poor  dear  France,  such  waves  have  buffeted 

Since  she  eschewed  infallibility. 

And  chose  to  steer  by  the  vague  compass-box. 

This  same  midsummer  month,  a  week  ago, 

Was  not  the  memorable  day  observ^ed 

For  reinstatement  of  the  misused  Three 

In  old  supremacy  forevermore  ? 

Did  not  the  faithful  flock  in  pilgrimage 


3o6        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

By  railway,  diligence  and  steamer  —  nay 

On  foot  with  staff  and  scrip,  to  see  the  sights 

Assured  them  ?     And  I  say  best  sight  was  here  : 

And  nothing  justified  the  rival  Two 

In  their  pretension  to  equality ; 

Our  folk  laid  out  their  ticket-money  best, 

And  wiseliest,  if  they  walked,  wore  shoe  away; 

Not  who  went  farther  only  to  fare  worse. 

For,  what  was  seen  at  Lourdes  and  La  Salette 

Except  a  couple  of  the  common  cures 

Such  as  all  three  can  boast  of,  any  day? 

While  here  it  was,  here  and  by  no  means  there. 

That  the  Pope's  self  sent  two  great  real  gold  crowns 

As  thick  with  jewelr}'-  as  thick  could  stick, 

His  present  to  the  Virgin  and  her  Babe  — 

Provided  for — who  knows  not?  —  by  that  fund. 

Count  Alessandro  Sforza's  legacy, 

Which  goes  to  crown  some  Virgin  every  year. 

But  this  year,  Pope  was  in  the  prison-house, 

And  money  had  to  go  for  something  else ; 

And  therefore,  though  their  present  seemed  the  Pope's, 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  307 

The  faithful  of  our  iDrovince  raised  the  sum 

Preached  and  prayed  out  of  —  nowise  purse  alone. 

Gentle  and  simple  paid  in  kind,  not  cash, 

The  most  part :    the  great  lady  gave  her  brooch, 

The  peasant-girl,  her  hair-pin  ;  'twas  the  rough 

Bluff  farmer  mainly  who,  —  admonished  well 

By  wife  to  care  lest  his  new  colewort-crop 

Stray  sorrowfully  sparse  like  last  3-ear's  seed,  — 

Lugged  from  reluctant  pouch  the  fifty-franc, 

And  had  the  Cure's  hope  that  rain  would  cease. 

And  so,  the  sum  in  evidence  at  length. 

Next  step  w'as  to  ol3tain  the  donative 

By  the  spontaneous  bounty  of  the  Pope  — 

No  easy  matter,  since  his  Holiness 

Had  turned  a  deaf  ear,  long  and  long  ago, 

To  much  entreaty  on  our  Bishop's  part, 

Commendably  we  boast.     "  But  no,"  quoth  he, 

"  Image  and  image  needs  must  take  their  turn  : 

Here  stand  a  dozen  as  importunate." 

Well,  we  were  patient  ;    but  the  cup  ran  o'er 

When  —  who  was  it  pressed  in  and  took  the  prize 


3o8         RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

But  our  own  offset,  set  far  off  indeed 

To  grow  by  help  of  our  especial  name, 

She  of  the  Ravissante  —  in  Martinique  ! 

"What?"  cried  our  patience  at  the  boiling-point, 

"The  daughter  crowned,  the  mother's  head  goes  bare  ? 

Bishop  of  Raimbaux  !  "  —  that's  our  diocese  — 

"  Thou  hast  a  summons  to  repair  to  Rome, 

Be  efficacious  at  the  Council  there  : 

Now  is  the  time  or  never  !     Right  our  wrong  ! 

Hie  thee  away,  thou  valued  Morillon, 

And  have  the  promise,  thou  who  hast  the  vote  ! " 

So  said,  so  clone,  so  followed  in  due  course 

(To  cut  the  story  short)  this  festival. 

This  famous  Twenty-second,  seven  days  since. 

Oh,  but  you  heard  at  Joyeux !     Pilgrimage, 
Concourse,  procession  with,  to  head  the  host, 
Cardinal  Mirecourt,  quenching  lesser  lights : 
The  leafy  street-length  through,  decked  end  to  end 
With  August-strippage,  and  adorned  with  flags, 
That  would  have  waved  right  well  but  that  it  rained 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  309 

Just  this  picked  day,  by  some  perversity. 

And  so  were  placed,  on  Mother  and  on  Babe, 

The  pair  of  crowns:    the  INIother's,  you  must  see! 

Miranda,  the  great  Paris  goldsmith,  made 

The  marvel,  —  he's  a  neighbor:    that's  his  park 

Before  you,  tree-topped  wall  we  walk  toward. 

His  shop  it  was,  turned  out  the  masterpiece, 

Probably  at  his  own  expenditure ; 

Anyhow,  his  was  the  munificence 

Contributed  the  central  and  supreme 

Splendor  that  crowns  the  crown  itself,  The  Stone. 

Not  even  Paris,  ransacked,  could  supply 

That  gem :    he  had  to  forage  in  New  York, 

This  jeweller,  and  country  gentleman. 

And  most  undoubted  devotee  beside  ! 

\Yorthily  wived,  too :    since  his  wife  it  was 

Bestowed  "  with  friendly  hand ''  —  befitting  phrase  ! 

The  lace  which  trims  the  coronation  robe  — 

Stiff  wear  —  a  mint  of  wealth  on  the  brocade. 

Do  go  and  see  what  I  saw  yesterday!    • 


3IO        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

And,  for  that  matter,  see  in  fancy  still, 
Since     .     . 

There  now !    Even  for  unthankful  me. 
Who  stuck  to  my  devotions  at  high-tide 
That  festal  morning,  never  had  a  niind 
To  trudge  the  little  league  and  join  the  crowd  — 
Even  for  me  is  miracle  vouchsafed  ! 
How  pointless  proves  the  sneer  at  miracles ! 
As  if,  contrariwise  to  all  we  want 
And  reasonably  look  to  find,  they  graced 
Merely  those  graced-before,  grace  helps  no  whit. 
Unless,  made  whole,   they  need  physician  still. 
I  —  sceptical  in  eveiy  inch  of  me  — 
Did  I  deserve  that,  from  the  liquid  name 
"Miranda,"  —  faceted  as  lovelily 
As  his  own  gift,  the  gem,  —  a  shaft  should  shine. 
Bear  me  along,  another  Abaris, 
Nor  let  me  light  till,  lo,  the  Red  is  reached, 
And  yonder  lies  in  luminosity  ! 

Look,  lady !  where  I  bade  you  glance,  but  now  ! 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  311 

Next  habitation,  though  two  miles  awaj',  — 

No  tenement  for  man  or  beast  between, — 

That,  park  and  domicile,  is  country-seat 

Of  this  same  good  Miranda!     I  accept 

The  augury.     Or  there,  or  nowhere  else, 

Will  I  establish  that  a  Night-cap  gleams 

Of  visionary  Red,  not  White  for  once  ! 

''  Heaven,"  saith  the  sage,  "  is  with  us,  here  inside 

Each  man:"  "Hell  also,"  simpleness  subjoins, 

By  White  and  Red  describing  human  flesh. 

And  yet  as  we  continue,  quicken  pace, 

Approach  the  object  which  determines  me 

Victorious  or  defeated,  more  forlorn 

My  chance  seems,  —  that  is  certainty  at  least. 

Halt  midway,  reconnoitre !     Either  side 

The  path  we  traverse  (turn  and  see)  stretch  fields 

Without  a  hedge  :    one  level,  scallop-striped 

With  bands  of  beet  and  turnip  and  luzern, 

Limited  only  by  each  color's  end, 

Shelves  down,  —  we  stand  upon  an  eminence,  — 


312        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP   COUNTRY; 

To  where  the  earth-shell  scallops  out  the  sea, 

A  sweep  of  semicircle ;   and  at  edge  — 

Just  as  the  milk-white  incrustations  stud 

At  intervals  some  shell-extremity, 

So  do  the  little  growths  attract  us  here, 

Towns  with  each  name  I  told  you  :    say,  they  touch 

The  sea,  and  the  sea  them,  and  all  is  said, 

So  sleeps  and  sets  to  slumber  that  broad  blue  ! 

The  people  are  as  peaceful  as  the  place. 

This,  that  I  call  "  the  path  "  is  road,  highway ; 

But  has  there  passed  us  by  a  market-cart, 

Man,  woman,  child,  or  dog  to  wag  a  tail  ? 

True,  I  saw  weeders  stooping  in  a  field  ; 

But  —  formidably  white  the  Cap's  extent ! 

Round  again  !      Come,  appearance  promises ! 
The  boundary',  the  park-wall^  ancient  brick, 
Upholds  a  second  wall  of  tree-heads  high 
Which  overlean  its  top,  a  solid  green. 
That  surely  ought  to  shut  in  mysteries  ! 
A  jeweller  —  no  unsuggestive  craft! 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  l^Z 

Trade  that  admits  of  much  romance,  indeed. 

For,  whom  but  goldsmiths  used  old  monarchs  pledge 

Regalia  to,  or  seek  a  ransom  from, 

Or  pray  to  furnish  do\vr\',  at  a  pinch. 

According  to  authentic  story-books? 

Why,  such  have  revolutionized  this  land 

With  diamond-necklace-dealing  !    not  to  speak 

Of  families  turned  upside-down,  because 

The  gay  wives  went  and  pawned  clandestinely 

Jewels,  and  figured,  till  found  out,  with  paste. 

Or  else  redeemed  them  —  how,  is  horrible  ! 

Then  there  are  those  enormous  criminals 

That  love  their  ware  and  cannot  lose  their  love, 

And  murder  you  to  get  your  purchase  back. 

Others  go  courting  after  such  a  stone, 

ISIake  it  their  mistress,  marry  for  their  wife, 

And  find  out,  some  day,  it  was  false  the  while, 

As  ever  wife  or  mistress,  man  too  fond 

Has  named  his  Pilgrim,  Hermit,  Ace  of  Hearts. 

Beside  —  what  stvle  of  edifice  begins 


314        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

To  grow  in  sight  at  last  and  top  the  scene  ? 

That  gray  roof,  with  the  range  of  lucarnes,  four 

I  count,  and  that  erection  in  the  midst  — 

Clock-house,  or  chapel-spire,  or  what,  above  ? 

Conventual,  that,  beyond  manorial,  sure  ! 

And  reason  good  ;  for  Clairvaux,  such  its  name, 

Was  built  of  old  to  be  a  Priory, 

Dependence  on  that  Abbey-for-the-Males 

Our  Conqueror  founded  in  world-famous  Caen, 

And  where  his  body  sought  the  sepulture. 

It  was  not  to  retain  :   you  know  the  tale. 

Such  Priory  was  Clairvaux,  prosperous 

Hundreds  of  years  ;    but  nothing  lasts  below. 

And  when  the  Red  Cap  pushed  the  Crown  aside. 

The  Priory  became,  like  all  its  peers, 

A  National  Domain  :    which,  bought  and  sold 

And  resold,  needs  must  change,  with  ownership, 

Both  outside  show  and  inside  use  ;    at  length 

The  messuage,  three  and  twenty  years  ago, 

Became  the  purchase  of  rewarded  worth 

Impersonate  in  Father  —  I  must  stoop 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  315 

To  French  phrase  for  precision's  sake  I  fear  — 

Father  Miranda,  goldsmith  of  renown  : 

By  birth,  a  Madrilene,  by  domicile 

And  sojourning,  accepted  French  at  last. 

His  energy  it  was  which,  trade  transferred 

To  Paris,  throve  as  with  a  golden  thumb, 

Established  in  the  Place  VendOme.     He  bought 

Not  building  only,  but  belongings  far 

And  wide,  at  Gonthier  there,  Monlieu,  Villeneuve, 

A  plentiful  estate  :   which,  twelve  years  since, 

Passed,  at  the  good  man's  natural  demise, 

To  Son  and  Heir  Miranda  —  Clairvaux  here. 

The  Paris  shop,  the  mansion  —  not  to  say 

Palatial  residence  on  Quai  Rousseau, 

With  money,  movables,  a  mine  of   wealth  — 

And  young  Leonce  Miranda  got  it  all. 

Ah,  but  —  whose  might  the  transformation  be  ? 
Were  you  prepared  for  this,  now  ?     As  we  talked, 
We  walked,  we  entered  the  half-privacy. 
The  partly-guarded  precinct :   passed  beside 


3i6         RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

The  little  paled-off   islet,  trees  and  turf, 

Then  found  us  in  the  main  ash-avenue 

Under  the  blessing  of   its  brant^hage-roof. 

Till,  on  emergence,  what  affronts  our  gaze  ? 

Priory  —  Conqueror  —  Abbey-for-the-Males  — 

Hey,  presto,  pass,  who  conjured  all  away  ? 

Look  through  the  raihvork  of  the  gate  :    a  park 

—  Yes,  but  a  fAfiglaise,  as  they  compliment ! 

Grass  like  green  velvet,  gravel-walks  like  gold. 

Bosses  of  shrubs,  embosomings  of   flowers. 

Wind  you  —  through  sprinkled  trees  of   tiny  breed 

Disporting,  within  reach  of   coverture, 

By  some  habitual  acquiescent  oak 

Or  elm,  that  thinks,  and  lets  the  youngsters  laugh — ■ 

Wind,  waft  at  last  your  soul  that  walks  the  air, 

Up  to  the  house-front,  or  its  back  perhaps  — 

Whether  fa9ade  or  no,  one  coquetry 

Of   colored  brick  and  carved  stone  !     Stucco  ?    Well, 

The  daintiness  is  cheery,  that  I  know, 

And  all  the  sportive  floral  framework  fits 

The  lightsome  purpose  of  the  architect. 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  317 

Those  lucarnes  which  I  called  conventual,  late, 
Those  are  the  outlets  in  the  mansard-roof  ; 
And,  underneath,  what  long  light  elegance 
Of  windows  here  suggests  how  brave  inside 
Lurk  eyeballed  gems  they  play  the  eyelids  to  ! 
Festive  arrangements  look  through  such,  be  sure  ! 
And  now  the  tower  a-top,  I  took  for  clock's 
Or  bell's  abode,  turns  out  a  quaint  device. 
Pillared  and  temple-treated  Belvedere  — 
Pavilion  safe  within  its  railed-about 
Sublimity  of  area  —  whence  what  stretch. 
Of  sea  and  land,  throughout  the  seasons'  change, 
Must  greet  the  solitary  !      Or  suppose, 
^-If  what  the  husband  likes,  the  wife  likes  too  — 
The  happy  pair  of  students  cloistered  high. 
Alone  in  April  when  the   Spring  arrives  ! 
Or  no,  he  mounts  there  by  himself   to  meet 
Winds,  welcome  wafts  of   sea-smell,  first  white  bird 
That  flaps  thus  far  to  taste  the  land  again, 
And  all  the  promise  of   the  youthful  year  ; 
Then  he  descends,  unbosoms  straight  his  store 


3l8        RED  COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY  ; 

Of  blessings  in  the  bud,  and  both  embrace, 
Husband  and  wife,  since  earth  is  Paradise, 
And  man  at  peace  with  God.      You  see  it  all  ? 

Let  us  complete  our  survey,  go  right  round 

The  place  :   for  here,  it  may  be,  we  surprise 

The  Prior}-,  —  these  solid  walls,  big  barns. 

Gray    orchard-grounds,    huge    four-square    stores    for 

stock, 
Betoken  where  the  Church  was  busy  once. 
Soon  must  we  come  upon  the  Chapel's  self. 
No  doubt  next  turn  will  treat  us  to  .  .   Aha, 
Again  our  expectation  proves  at  fault ! 
Still  the  bright  graceful  modern  —  not  to  say 
Modish  adornment,  meets  us  :    Pare  A?iglais, 
Tree-sprinkle,  shrub-embossment  as  before. 
See,  the  sun  splits  on  yonder  bauble  world 
Of   silvered  glass  concentring,  every  side, 
All  the  adjacent  wonder,  made  minute 
And  touched  grotesque  by  ball-convexity  ! 
Just  so  a  sense  that  something  is  amiss, 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  319 

Something  is  out  of  sorts  in  the  display, 
Aifects  us,  past  denial,  everywhere. 
The  right  erection  for  the  Fields,  the  Wood, 
(Fields  —  but  Eljsees,  wood  —  but  de  Boulogne) 
Is  peradventure  wrong  for  wood  and  fields 
When  Vire,  not  Paris,  plays  the  capital. 

So  may  a  good  man  have  deficient  taste  ; 

Since  Son  and  Heir  Miranda,  he  it  was 

Who,  six  \-ears  now  elapsed,  achieved  the  work, 

And  truly  made  a  wilderness  to  smile. 

Flere  did  their  domesticity  reside, 

A  happy  husband  and  as  happy  wife, 

Till  .  .  how  can  I  in  conscience  longer  keep 

My  little  secret  that  the  man  is  dead 

I,  for  artistic  purpose,  talk  about 

As  if  he  lived  still  ?     No,  these  two  years  now, 

Has  he  been  dead.     You  ought  to  sympathize  — 

Not  mock  the  sturdy  effort  to  redeem 

My  pledge,  and  wring  you  out  some  tragedy 

From  even  such  a  perfect  commonplace  ! 


320        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Suppose  I  boast  the  death  of   such  desert         ♦ 

My  tragic  bit  of   Red?      Who  contravenes 

Assertion  that  a  tragedy  exists 

In  any  stoppage  of   benevolence, 

Utility,  devotion  above  all  ? 

Benevolent  ?      There  never  was  his  like  : 

For  poverty,  he  had  an  open  hand 

.  .  Or  stop  —  I  use  the  wrong  expression  here  — 

An  open  purse,  then,  ever  at  appeal ; 

So  that  the  unreflecting  rather  taxed 

Profusion  than  penuriousness  in  alms. 

One,  in  his  day  and  generation,  deemed 

Of   use  to  the  community  ?     I  trust 

Clairvaux  thus  renovate  and  regalized, 

Paris  expounded  thus  to  Normandy, 

Answers  that  question.     Was  the  man  devout? 

After  a  life  —  one  mere  munificence 

To  Church  and  all  things  churchly,  men  or  mice. 

Dying,  his  last  bequeathment  gave,  land,  goods. 

Cash,  every  stick  and  stiver,  to  the  Church, 

And  notably  to  that  church  yonder,  that 


0A\    7UKF  AND    TOWERS.  321 

Beloved  of   his  soul,  La  Ravissante  — 
Wherefrom,  the  latest  of   his  gifts,  the  Stone 
Gratefully  bore  me  as  on  arrow-flash 
To  Clairvaux,  as  I  told  j'ou. 

"Ay,  to  find 
Your  Red  desiderated  article, 

Where  every  scratch  and  scrape  provokes  my  White 

To  all  the  more  superb  a  prominence ! 

Why,  'tis  the  stoiy  served  up  fresh  a^ain  — 

How  it  befell  the  restive  prophet  old 

Who  came  and  tried  to  curse  but  blessed  the  land. 

Come,  your  last  chance  !    he  disinherited 

Children :   he  made  his  widow  mourn  too  much 

By  this  endowment  of   the  other  Bride  — 

Nor  understood  that  gold  and   jewelry 

Adorn  her  in  a  figure,  not  a  fact. 

You  make  the  Wliite  I  want,  so  very  white, 

'Tis  I  say  now  —  some  trace  of   Red  should  be 

Somewhere  in  this  Miranda-sanctitude  ! " 

Not  here,  at  all   events,  sweet  mocking  friend ! 


322        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

For  he  was  childless ;   and  what  heirs  he  had 
Were  an  uncertain  sort  of   Cousinry 
Scarce  claiming  kindred  so  as  to  withhold 
The  donor's  purpose  though  fantastical : 
Heirs,  for  that  matter,  wanting  no  increase 
Of  wealth,  since  rich  already  as  himself; 
Heirs  that  had  taken  trouble  off   his  hands, 
Bought  that  productive  goldsmith-business,  he, 
With  abnegation  wise  as  rare,  renounced 
Precisely  at  a  time  of   life  when  youth. 
Nigh  on  departure,  bids  mid-age  discard 
Life's  other  loves  and  likings  in  a  pack. 
To  keep,  in  lucre,  comfort  worth  them   all. 
This  Cousinry  are  they  who  boast  the  shop 
Of   "Firm-Miranda,  London  and  New  York." 
Cousins  are  an  unconscionable  kind ; 
But  these  —  pretension  surely  on  their  part 
To  share  inheritance  were  too  absurd  ! 

"  Remains  then,  he  dealt  wrongly  by  his  wife, 
Despoiled  her  somehow  by  such  testament  ? " 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  Z^l 

Farther  than  ever  from  the  mark,  fair  friend ! 

The  man's  love  for  his  wife  exceeded  bounds 

Rather  than  failed  the  limit.     'Twas  to  live 

Hers  and  hers  only,  to  abolish  earth 

Outside  —  since  Paris  holds  the  pick  of   earth  — 

He  turned  his  back,  shut  eyes,  stopped  ears,  to  all 

Delicious  Paris  tempts  her  children  with, 

And  fled  away  to  this  far  solitude  — 

She  peopled  solitude  sufficiently ! 

She,  partner  in  each  heavenward  flight  sublime. 

Was,  with  each  condescension  to  the  ground, 

Duly  associate  also :   hand  in  hand, 

.  .  Or  side  by  side,  I  say  by  preference  — 

On  every  good  work  sidlingly  they  went. 

Hers  was  the  instigation  —  none  but  she 

Willed  that,  if   death  should  summon  first  her  lord, 

Though  she,  sad  relict,  must  drag  residue 

Of   days  encumbered  by  this  load  of   wealth  — 

(Submitted  to  with  something  of   a  grace 

So  long  as  her  surviving  vigilance 

Might  worthily  administer,  convert 


324        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAJ    COUNTRY; 

Wealth  to  God's  glory  and  the  good  of   man, 

Give,  as  in  life,  so  now  in  death,  effect 

To  cherished  purpose)  —  yet  she  begged  and  prayed 

That,  when  no  longer  she  could  supervise 

The  House,  it  should  become  a  Hospital : 

For  the  support  whereof,  lands,  goods,  and  cash 

Alike  will  go,  in  happy  guardianship, 

To  yonder  church,  La  Ravissante  :    who  debt 

To  God  and  man  undoubtedly  will  pay. 

"  Not  of  the  world,  your  heroine  ! " 

Do  you  know 
I  saw  her  yesterday  —  set  eyes  upon 
The  veritable  personage,  no  dream  ? 
I  in  the  morning  strolled  this  way,  as  oft. 
And  stood  at  entry  of  the  avenue. 
When,  out  from  that  first  garden-gate,  we  gazed 
Upon  and  through,  a  small  procession  swept  — 
Madame  Miranda  with  attendants  iive. 
First,  of  herself:    she  wore  a  soft  and  white 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  325 

Engaging  dress,  with  velvet  stripes  and  squares 

Severely  black,  yet  scarce  discouraging  : 

Fresh  Paris-manufacture  !  (Vire's  would  do  ? 

I  doubt  it,  but  confess  my  ignorance.) 

Her  figure  ?   somewhat  small  and  darlinglike, 

Her  face  ?  well,  singularly  colorless, 

For  first  thing  :  which  scarce  suits  a  blonde,  you  know. 

Pretty  you  would  not  call  her  :  though  perhaps 

Attaining   to  the  ends  of  prettiness, 

And  somewhat  more,  suppose  enough  of  soul. 

Then  she  is  forty  full :    you  cannot  judge 

What  beauty  was  her  portion  at  eighteen, 

The  age  she  married  at.     So,  colorless 

I  stick  to,  and  if  featureless  I  add. 

Your  notion  grows  completer :    for,  although 

I  noticed  that  her  nose  was  aquiline. 

The  whole  effect  amounts  with  me  to  —  blank  ! 

I  never  saw  what  I  could  less  describe. 

The  eyes,  for  instance,  unforgettable 

Which  ought  to  be,  are  out  of  mind  as  sight. 


326        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Yet  is  there  not  conceivably  a  face, 

A   set  of  wax-like  features,  blank  at  first, 

^Vhich,  as  you  bendingly  grow  warm  above, 

Begins  to  take  impressment  from  your  breath  ? 

Which,  as  your  will  itself  w'ere  plastic  here 

Nor  needed  exercise  of  handicraft. 

From  formless  moulds  itself  to  correspond 

With  all  you  think  and  feel  and  are  —  in  fine 

Grows   a  ne^v  revelation  of  yourself. 

Who  know  now  for  the  first  time  what  you  want  ? 

Here  has  been  something  that  could  wait  a  while, 

Learn  your  requirement,  nor  take  shape  before. 

But,  by  adopting  it,  make  palpable 

Your  right  to  an  importance  of  your  own. 

Companions  somehow  were  so  slow  to  see ! 

—  Far  delicater  solace  to  conceit 

Than  should  some  absolute  and  final  face. 

Fit  representative  of  soul  inside. 

Summon  you  to  surrender  —  in  no  way 

Your  breath's  impressment,  nor,  in  stranger's  guise, 

Yourself — or  why  offeree  to  challenge  you? 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS. 

AVhy  should  your  soul's  reflection  rule  your  soul  ? 

("  You  "  means  not  you,  nor  me,  nor  any  one 

Framed,  for  a  reason  I  shall  keep  suppressed, 

To  rather  want  a  master  than  a  slave  : 

The  slavish  still  aspires  to  dominate  I) 

So,  all  I  say  is,  that  the  face,  to  me 

One  blurr  of  blank,  might  flash  significance 

To  who  had  seen  his  soul  reflected  there 

By  that  symmetric  silvei7  phantom-like 

Figure,  with  other  five  processional. 

The  first,  a  black-dressed  matron  —  may  be,  maid 

Mature,  and  dragonish  of  aspect,  —  marched  ; 

Then  four  came  tripping  in  a  joyous  flock, 

Two  giant  goats  and  two  prodigious  sheep 

Pure  as  the  arctic  fox  that  suits  the  snow. 

Tripped,  trotted,  turned  the  march  to  merriment, 

But  ambled  at  their  mistress'  heel  —  for  why  ? 

A  rod  of  guidance  marked  the  Chatelaine, 

And  ever  and  anon  would  sceptre  wave, 

And  silky  subject  leave  meandering. 

Nay,  one  great  naked  sheep-face  stopped  to  ask 


328         RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COLW'TRY ; 

Who  was  the  stranger,  snuffed  inquisitive 

j\Iy  hand  that  made  acquaintance  with  its  nose. 

Examined  why  the  hand  —  of  man  at  least  — 

Patted  so  lightly,  warmly,  so  like  life  ! 

Are  they  such  silly  natures  after  all  ? 

And  thus  accompanied,  the  paled-off  space, 

Isleted  shrubs  and  verdure,  gained  the  group  ; 

Till,  as  I  gave  a  furtive  glance,  and  saw 

Her  back-hair  was  a  block  of  solid  gold. 

The  gate  shut  out  my  harmless  question  —  Hair 

So  young  and  yellow,  crowning  sanctity. 

And  claiming  solitude    .     .    can  hair  be  false  ? 

"  Shut  in  the  hair  and  with  it  your  last  hope 
Yellow  might  on  inspection  pass  for  Red !  — 
Red,  Red,  where  is  the  tinge  of  promised  Red 
In  this  old  tale  of  town  and  country  life, 
This  rise  and  progress  of  a  family? 
First  comes  the  bustling  man  of  enterprise. 
The  fortune-founding  father,  rightly  rough. 
As  who  must  gmb  and  grab,  play  pioneer. 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  3^0 

Then,  with  a  light  and  airy  step,  succeeds 
The  son,  surveys  the  fabric  of  his  sire. 
And  enters  home,  unsmirched  from  top  to  toe. 
Polish  and  education  qualify 
Their  fortunate  possessor  to  confine 
His  occupancy  to  the  first-floor  suite 
Rather  than  keep  exploring  needlessly 
Where  dwelt  his  sire  content  with  cellarage  : 
Industr}'  bustles  underneath,  no  doubt ; 
The  supervisor  should  not  sit  too  close. 
Next,  rooms  built,  there's  the  furniture  to  buy, 
And  what  adornment  like  a  worthy  wife? 
In  comes  she  like  some  foreign  cabinet. 
Purchased  indeed,  but  purifying  quick 
What  space  receives  her,  from  its  traffic-taint. 
She  tells  of  other  habits,  palace-life  ; 
Royalty  may  have  pried  into  those  depths 
Of  sandal-wooded  drawer,  and  set  a-creak 
That  pygmy  portal  pranked  with  lazuli. 
More  fit  by  far,  the  ignoble  Avere  replaced 
By  objects  suited  to  such  visitant. 


330        liED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAF  COUATRY; 

Than  that  her  dignity  be  desecrate 

By  neighborhood  of  vulgar  table,  chair, 

Which  haply  helped  old  age  to  smoke  and  doze. 

The  end  is,  an  exchange  of  city  stir 

And  too  intrusive  burgess-fellowship, 

For  rural  isolated  elegance, 

Careless  simplicity,  how  preferable  ! 

There  one  may  fairly  throw  behind  one's  back 

The  used-up  worn-out  past,  we  want  away, 

And  make  a  fresh  beginning  of  stale  life. 

'In  just  the  place'  —  does  any  one  object?  — 

'  Where  aboriginal  gentility 

Will  scout  the  upstart,  twit  him  with  each  trick 

Of    town,   trade-mark     that   stamps    each   word   and 

deed. 
And  most  of  all  resent  that  here  the  dirt 
Is  daubed  with  money-color  to  deceive  ! ' 
Rashly  objected  !      Is  there  not  the  Church 
To  intercede  and  bring  benefic  truce 
At  outset  ?      She  it  is  shall  equalize 
The  laborers  in  the  vineyard,  last  as  first. 


OR,    'JURF  AND    TOWERS.  33 1 

Pay  court  to  her,  she  stops  impertinence. 

'  Duke,  once  your  sires  crusaded  it,  we  know  : 

Our  friend  the  new-comer  observes,  no  less. 

Your  chapel,  rich  with  their  emblazomy. 

Wants  roofing — might  he  but  supply  the  means! 

Marquise,  you  gave  the  honor  of  your  name, 

Titulur  patronage,  abundant  "will. 

To  what  should  be  an  Orphan  Institute  : 

Gave  every  thing  but  funds,  in  brief ;    and  these. 

Our  friend,  the  lady  newly  resident. 

Proposes  to  contribute,  by  your  leave  ! ' 

Brothers  and  sisters  lie  they  in  thy  lap, 

Thou  none-excluding,  all-collecting  Church ! 

Sure,  one  has  half  a  foot  i'  the  hierarchy 

Of     birth,    when    '  Nay,    my    dear,'    laughs    out    the 

Duke, 
'  I  may  be  cushion-carrier,  but  the  crown  — 
Who  gave  its  central  glor}^,  I  or  you  ? ' 
When  INIarquise  jokes  'My  quest,  forsooth?     Each  doit 
I  scrape  together  goes  for  Peter-pence 
To  purvey  bread  and  water  in  his  bonds 


332        RED    COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

For  Peter's  self  imprisoned  —  Lord,  liow  long  ? 

Yours,  yours  alone  the  bount}',  dear  my  dame, 

You  plumped  the  purse,  Avhich,  poured  into  the  plate. 

Made  the  Archbishop  open  brows  so  broad  ! 

And  if  you  really  mean  to  give  that  length 

Of  lovely  lace  to  edge  the  robe  ! '  .  .  Ah,  friends. 

Gem  better  serves  so,  than  by  calling  crowd 

Round  shop-front  to  admire  the  million's-worth ! 

Lace  gets  more  homage  than  from  lorgnette-stare, 

And  comment  coarse  to  match,  (should  one  display 

One's  robe  a  trifle  o'er  the  baignoire-edge,) 

'  \Vell  may  she  line  her  slippers  with  the  like, 

If  minded  so  !    their  shop  it  was,  produced 

That  wonderful  parurc,  the  other  day. 

Whereof  the  Baron  said,  it  beggared  him.' 

And  so  the  paired  Mirandas  built  their  house. 

Enjoyed  their  fortune,  sighed  for  family, 

Found  friends  would  serve  their  purpose  quite  as  well, 

And  come,  at  need,  from  Paris  —  anyhow, 

With  evident  alacrity,  from  A'ire  — 

Endeavor  at  the  chase,  at  least  succeed 


I 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  333 

In  smoking,  eating,  drinking,  laughing,  and 

Preferring  country,  oh  so  much  to  town  ! 

Thus  lived  the  husband;  though  his  wife  w-ould  sigh 

In  confidence,  when  Countesses  were  kind, 

'  Cut  off    from  Paris  and  society  ! ' 

White,  White,  I  once  more  round  you  in  the  ears  ! 

Though  you  have  marked  it,  in  a  corner,  yours 

Henceforth,  —  red-lettered  '  Failure,'  very  plain, 

I  shall  acknowledge,  on  the  snowy  hem 

Of  ordinary  Night-cap  !     Come,  enough  ! 

We  have  gone  round  its  cotton  vastitude. 

Or  half-round,  for  the  end's  consistent  still, 

A  cul-dc-sac  with  stoppage  at  the  sea. 

Here  we  return  upon  our  steps.      One  look 

May  bid  good-morning  —  properly  good-night  — 

To  civic  bliss,  Miranda  and  his  mate  ! 

Are  we  to  rise  and  go  ? " 

No,  sit  and  stay  ! 
Now  comes  my  moment,  with  the  thrilling  throw 
Of  curtain  from  each  side  a  shrouded  case. 


334        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY. 

Don't  the  rings  shriek  an  ominous  "  Ha  !   ha ! 

So  you  take  Human  Nature  upon  trust  ? " 

List  but  with  like  trust  to  an  incident 

Which  speedily  shall  make  quite  Red  enough 

Burn  out  of  yonder  spotless  napeiy  ! 

Sit  on  the  little  mound  here,  whence  you  seize 

The  whole  of  the  gay  front  sun-satisfied, 

One  laugh  of  color  and  embellishment ! 

Because  it  was  tLere,  —  past  those  laurustines, 

On  that  smooth  gravel-sweep  'twixt  flowers  and  sward. 

There  tragic  death  befell ;   and  not  one  grace 

Outspread  before  you  but  is  registered 

In  that  sinistrous  coil,  these  last  two  years 

Were  occupied  in  winding  smooth  again. 

"  True  ? "      Well,  at  least  it  was  concluded  so. 
Sworn  to  be  truth,  allowed_by  j^^w  as  such, 
(With  my  concurrence,  if  it  matter  here) 
A  month  ago :   at  Vire  they  tried  the  case. 


11. 


Monsieur  Leoxce  Miranda,  then,    .    .   but  stay  ! 

Permit  me  a  preliminar}-  word, 

And,  after,  all  shall  so  so  straight  to  end  ! 


Have  you,  the  travelled  lady,  found  yourself 

Inside  a  ruin,  fane  or  bath  or  cirque. 

Renowned  in  story,  dear  through  youthful  dream  ? 

If  not,  —  imagination  serves  as  well. 

Try  fancy-land,  go  back  a  thousand  years, 

Or  forward,  half  the  number,  and  confront 

Some  work  of  art  gnawn  hollow  by  Time's  tooth, - 

Hellenic  temple,  Roman  theatre, 

Gothic  cathedral,  Gallic  Tuileries, 


33^        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

But  ruined,  one  and  whichsoe'er  you  like. 
Obstructions  choke  what  still  remains  intact, 
Yet  proffer  change  that's  picturesque  in  turn ; 
Since  little  life  begins  where  great    life  ends, 
And  vegetation  soon  amalgamates, 
Smooths  novel  shape  from  out  the  shapeless  old, 
Till  broken  column,  battered  cornice  block 
The  centre  with  a  bulk  half  weeds  and  flowers. 
Half  relics  you  devoutly  recognize. 
Devoutly  recognizing,  —  hark,  a  voice 
Not  to  be  disregarded !      "  Man  worked  here 
Once  on  a  time ;    here  needs  again  to  work  ; 
Ruins  obstruct,  v;hich  man  must  remedy." 
Would  you  demur  "Let  Time  fulfil  his  task, 
And,  till  the  scythe-sweep  find  no  obstacle. 
Let  man  be  patient  ?  " 

The  reply  were  prompt 
"  Glisteningly  beneath  the  May-night  moon, 
Herbage  and  floral  coverture  bedeck 
Yon  splintered  mass  amidst  the  solitude  : 
Wolves  occupy  the  background,  or  some  snake 


OR,    TURF  AND   TOWERS.  337 

Glides  by  at  distance :   picturesque   enough  ! 

Therefore,  preserve  it?      Nay,  pour  daylight  in, — 

The  mound  proves  swarming  with  humanity. 

There  never  was  a  thorough  solitude, 

Now  you  look  nearer:    mortal  busy  life 

First  of  all  brought  the  Grumblings  down  on  pate. 

Which  trip  man's  foot  still,  plague  his  passage  much, 

And  prove  —  what  seems  to  you  so  picturesque 

To  him  is   .    .  but  experiment  yourself 

On  how  conducive  to  a  happy  home 

Will  be  the  circumstance,  your  bed  for  base 

Boasts  tessellated  pavement,  —  equally 

Affected  by  the  scorpion  for  his  nest, — 

While  what  o'erroofs  bed  is  an  architrave, 

Marble,  and  not  unlikely  to  crush  man 

To  mummy,  should  its  venerable  prop. 

Some  fig-tree-stump,  play  traitor  underneath. 

Be  wise  !      Decide  !      For  conservation's  sake, 

Clear  the  arena  forthwith!    lest  the  tread 

Of  too-much-tried  impatience  trample  out 

Solid  and    unsubstantial  to  one  blank 


338        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Mud-mixture,  picturesque  to  nobody,  — 

And,  task  done,  quarrel  with  the  parts  intact 

Whence  came  the  filtered  fine  dust,  whence  the  crash 

Bides  but  its  time  to  follow.      Quick  conclude 

Removal,  time  effects  so  tardily, 

Of  what  is  plain  obstruction ;    rubbish  cleared, 

Let  partial  ruin  stand  while  ruin  may, 

And  serve  world's  use,  since  use  is  manifold. 

Repair  wreck,  stanchion  wall  to  heart's  content, 

But  never  think  of  renovation,  pure 

And  simple,  which  involves  creation  too : 

Transform  and  welcome  !      Yon  tall  tower  may  help 

(Though  built  to  be  a  belfry  and  nought  else) 

Some  Father  Secchi,  to  tick  Venus  off 

In  transit :    never  bring  there  bell  again, 

To  damage  him  aloft,  brain  us  below, 

When  new  vibrations  bury  both  in  brick ! 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda,  furnishing 

The  application  at  his  cost,  poor  soul ! 

Was  instance  how,  —  because  the  world  lay  strewn 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  339 

With  ravage  of  opinions  in  his  path, 
And  neither  he,  nor  any  friendly  wit, 
Knew   and   could  teach  him  which  was  firm,   which 

frail, 
In  his  adventure  to  walk  straight  through  life 
The  partial-ruin,  —  in  such  enterprise, 
He  straggled  into  rubbish,  struggled  on, 
And  stumbled  out  again  observably. 
"Yon  buttress  still  can  back  me  up,"  he  judged: 
And  at  a  touch  down  came  both  he  and  it. 
"  A  certain  statue,  I  was  warned  against, 
Now,  by  good  fortune,  lies  well  under  foot. 
And  cannot  tempt  to  folly  any  more  : " 
So,  lifting  eye,  aloft  since  safety  lay. 
What  did  he  light  on  1    the  Idalian  shape, 
The  undeposed,  erectly  Victrix  still  ! 
"  These  steps  ascend  the  labyrinthine  stair 
Whence,  darkling  and  on  all-fours,  out  I  stand 
Exalt  and  safe,  and  bid  low  earth  adieu  — 
For  so  instructs  '  Advice  to  who  would  climb  : '  " 
And  all  at  once   the  climbing  landed  him 


34°      RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 
—  Where,  is  my  story. 

Take  its  moral  first. 
Do  you  advise  a  climber?     Have  respect 
To  the  poor  head,  with  more  or  less  of  brains 
To  spill,  should  breakage  follow  your  advice  ! 
Head-break  to  him  will  be  heart-break  to  you 
For  having  preached  "  Disturb  no  ruins  here  ! 
Are  not  they  crumbling  of  their  own  accord  ? 
Meantime,  let  poets,  painters  keep  a  prize  ! 
Beside,  a  sage  pedestrian  picks  his  way." 
A  sage    pedestrian  —  such  as  you  and  I  ! 
What  if  there  trip,  in  merry  carelessness, 
And  come  to  grief,  a  weak  and  foolish  child  ? 
Be  cautious  how  you  counsel  climbing  then  ! 

Are  you  adventurous  and  climb  yourself  ? 

Plant  the  foot  warily,  accept  a  staff. 

Stamp  only  where  you  probe  the  standing-point. 

Move  for^vard,  well  assured  that  move  you  may: 

Where  you  mistrust  advance,  stop  short  and  stick! 


OR,    TURF  AND   TOWERS.  34^ 

This  makes  advancing  slow  and  difficult  ? 
Hear  what  came  of  endeavor  of  brisk  youth 
To  foot  it  fast  and  easy  !      Keep  this  same 
Notion  of  outside  mound  and  inside  mash, 
Towers  yet  intact  round  turfy  rottenness, 
Symbolic  partial  ravage, — keep  in  mind! 
Here  fortune  placed  his  feet  who  first  of  all 
Found  no  incumbrance,  till  head  found    .    .    But  hear ! 

This  son  and  heir  then  of  the  jeweller, 
ISIonsieur  Leonce  Miranda,  at  his  birth, 
MLxed  the  Castilian  passionate  blind  blood 
With  answerable  gush,  his  mother's  gift. 
Of  spirit,  French  and   critical  and  cold. 
Such  mixture  makes  a  battle  in  the  brain. 
Ending  as  faith  or  doubt  gets  uppermost; 
Then  will  has  way  a  moment,  but  no  more, 
So  nicely  balanced  are  the  adverse  strengths, 
And  victory  entails  reverse  next  time. 
The  tactics  of  the  two  are  different 
And  equalize  the  odds  :    for  blood  comes  first, 


M2         RF.D   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Surrounding  life  with  undisputed  faith. 

But  presently,  a  new  antagonist, 

By  scarce-suspected  passage  in  the  dark, 

Steals  spirit,  fingers  at  each  crevice  found 

Athwart  faith's  stronghold,  fronts  the  astonished  man  : 

"Such  pains  to  keep  me  far,  yet  here  stand  I, 

Your  doubt  inside  the  faith-defenefi_of_jou ! " 

With  faith  it  was  friends  bulwarked  him  about 

From  infancy  to  boyhood  ;    so,  by  youth, 

Faith  stood  the  impenetrable  circuit,  high 

As  heaven  and  low  as  hell :    what  lacked  he  there, 

Guarded  against  aggression,  storm  or  sap? 

What  foe  v/ould  dare  approach?      Historic  Doubt? 

A}',  were  there  some  half-knowledge  to  attack  ! 

Batter  doubt's  best,  sheer  ignorance  will  beat. 

Acumen  metaphysic?  —  drills  its  way 

Through  what,  I  wonder !     A  thick  feather-bed 

Of  thoughtlessness,  no  operating  tool  — 

Framed  to  transpierce  the  flint-stone  —  fumbles  at, 

With  chance  of  finding  an  impediment ! 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  343 

This  Rav'ssante,  now :  when  he  saw  the  church 

For  the  first  time,  and  to  his  clying-day, 

His  firm  belief  was  that  the  name  fell  fit 

From  the  Delivering  Virgin,  niched  and  known  ; 

As  if  there  wanted  records  to  attest 

The  appellation  was  a  pleasantry, 

A  pious  rendering  of  Rare  Vissante^ 

The  proper  name  which  erst  our  province  bore. 

He  would  have  told  you  that  Saint  Aldabert 

Founded  the  church,  (Heaven  early  favored  France,) 

About  the  second  century  from  Christ ; 

Though  the  true  man  was  Bishop  of  Raimbaux, 

Eleventh  in  succession,  Eldobert, 

Who  flourished  after  some  six  hundred  years. 

He  it  was  brought  the  image  "  from  afar," 

(Made  out  of  stone  the  place  produces  still) 

"  Infantine  Art  divinely  artless,"  (Art 

In  the  decrepitude  of  Decadence) 

And  set  it  up  a-working  miracles 

Until  the  Northmen's  fury  laid  it  low, 

Not  long,  however  :    an  egregious  sheep, 


344        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

Zealous  with  scratching  hoof   and  routing  horn, 

Unearthed  the  image  in  good  Maiileville's  time, 

Count  of  the  country.     "  If  the  tale  be  false, 

Why  stands  it  carved  above  the  portal  plain?" 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  used  to  ask. 

To  Londres  went  the  prize  in  solemn  pomp, 

But,  liking  old  abode  and  loathing  new, 

Was  borne  —  this  time  by  angels  —  back  again. 

And,  re-inaugurated,  miracle 

Succeeded  miracle,  a  lengthy  list, 

Until  indeed  the  culmination  came  — 

Archbishop  Chaumont  prayed  a  prayer  and  vowed 

A  vow  —  gained  prayer  and  paid  vow  properly  — 

For  the  conversion  of  Prince  Vertgalant. 

These  facts,  sucked  in  along  with  mother's  milk. 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  would  dispute 

As  soon  as  that  his  hands  were  flesh  and   bone, 

Milk-nourished  two  and  twenty  years  before. 

So  fortified  by  blind  Castilian  blood. 

What  say  you  to  tlie  chances  of  French  cold 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  345 

Critical  spirit,  should  Voltaire  besiege 

"Alp,  Apenniiie,  and  fortified  redoubt?" 

Ay,  would  such  spirit  please  to  play  faith's  game 

Faith's  way,  attack  where  faith  defends  so  well ! 

But  then  it  shifts,  tries  other  strategy. 

Coldness  grows  warmth,  the  critical  becomes 

Unquestioning  acceptance.     "  Share  and  share 

Alike  in  facts,  to  truth  add  other  truth ! 

Why  with  old  truth  needs  new  truth   disagree?" 

Thus  doubt   was  found  invading  faith,  this  time, 

By  help  of  not  the  spirit  but  the  flesh : 

Fat  Rabelais  chuckled,  where  faith  lay  in  wait 

For  lean  Voltaire's  grimace  —  French,  either  foe. 

Accordingly,  while  round  about  our  friend 

Ran  faith  without  a  break  which  learned  eye 

Could  find  at  two  and  twenty   j-ears  of  age. 

The  Iwenty-two-years-old  frank  footstep  soon 

Assured  itself  there  spread  a  standing-space 

Flowery  and  comfortable,  nowise  rock 

Nor  pebble-pavement  roughed  for  champion's  tread 


346        RED   COTTON  NTGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Who  scorns  discomfort,  pacing  at  his  post. 

Tall,  long-limbed,  shoulder  right  and  shoulder  left, 

And  'twixt  acromia  such  a  latitude. 

Black  heaps  of  hair  on  head,  and  blacker  bush 

O'er-rioting  chin,  cheek  and  throat  and  chest, — 

His  brown  meridional  temperament 

Told  him  —  or  rather  pricked  into   his  sense 

Plainer  than  language  —  "  Pleasant  station  here  ! 

Youth,  strength,  and  lustihood  can  sleep  on  turf 

Yet  pace  the  stony  platform  afterward: 

First  signal  of  a  io<t  and  up  they  start ! 

Saint  Eldobert,  at  all  such  vanit}'. 

Nay  —  sinfulness,  had  shaken  head  austere. 

Had  he  !     But  did  Prince  Vertgalant  ?     And  yet, 

After  how  long  a  slumber,  of  what  sort, 

Was  it,  he  stretched  octogenary  joints, 

And,  nigh  on  Day-of-Judgment  trumpet-blast. 

Jumped  up  and  manned  wall,  brisk  as  any  bee?" 

Nor  Rabelais  nor  Voltaire,  but  Sganarelle, 

You  comprehend,  was  pushing  through  the  chink ! 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  3+7 

That  stager  in  the  saint's  correct  costume, 

Who  ever  has  his  speech  in  readiness 

For  thick-head  juvenility  at  fault: 

"  Go  pace  yon  platform  and  play  sentinel ! 

You  won't  ?     The  worse  !   but  still  a  worse  might  hap. 

Stay  then,  provided  that  you  keep  in  sight 

The  battlement,  one  bold  leap  lands  you  by  1 

Resolve  not  desperately  'Wall  or  turf, 

Choose  this,  choose  that,  but  no  alternative  ! ' 

No  !     Earth  left  once  were  left  for  good  and  all : 

'  With  Heaven  you  may  accommodate  yourself.'  " 

Saint  Eldobert  —  I  much  approve  his  mode  ; 
With  sinner  Vertgalant  I  sympathize  ; 
But  histrionic  Sganarelle,  who  prompts 
\Miile  pulling  back,  refuses  yet  concedes,  — 
Whether  he  preach  in  chair,  or  print  in  book. 
Or  whisper  due  sustainment  to  weak  flesh, 
Counting  his  sham  beads  threaded  on  a  lie  — 
Surely,  one  should  bid  pack  that  mountebank  ! 
Surely,  he  must  have  momentary'  fits 


348         RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Of  self-sufficient  stage-forgetfulness, 

Escapings  of  the  actor-lassitude, 

When  he  allows  the  grace  to  show  the  grin, 

Which  ought  to  let  even  thickheads  recognize 

(Through  all  the  busy  and  benefic  part,  — 

Bridge-building,  or  rock-riving,  or  good  clean 

Transport  of  church  and  congregation  both 

From  this  to  that  place  with  no  harm  at  all,) 

The  Devil,  that  old  stager,  at  his  trick 

Of  general  utility',  who  leads 

Downward,  perhaps,  but  fiddles  all  the  way  ! 

Therefore,  no  sooner  does  our  candidate 
For  saintship  spotlessly  emerge  soul-cleansed 
From  First  Communion  to  mount  guard  at  post, 
Paris-proof,  top  to  toe,  than  up  there  starts 
The  Spirit  of  the  Boulevard  —  you  know  Who  — 
With  jocund  "  So,  a  structure  fixed  as  fate, 
Faith's  tower  joins  on  to  tower,  no  ring  more  round, 
Full  fifty  years  at  distance,  too,  from  youth  ! 


I 


OR,    TURf  AND    TOWERS.  349 

Once  reach  that  precinct  and  there  fight  your  best, 

As  looking  back  you  wonder  what  has  come 

Of  daisy-dappled  turf  you  danced   across  ! 

Few  flowers  that  played  with  youth  shall  pester  age, 

However  age  esteem  the  courtesy  ; 

And  Eldobert  was  something  past  his  prime, 

Stocked  Caen  with  churches  ere  he  tried  hand  here. 

Saint-Sauveur,  Notre-Dame,  Saint-Pierre,  Saint-Jean 

Attest,  his  handiwork  commenced  betimes. 

He  probably  would  preach  that  turf  is  mud. 

Suppose  it  mud,  through  mud  one  picks  a  way. 

And  when,  clay-clogged,  the  struggler  steps  to  stone, 

He  uncakes  shoe,  arrives  in  manlier  guise 

Than  carried  pick-a-back  by  Eldobert 

Big-baby-fashion,  lest  his  leathers    leak  ! 

All  that  parade  about  Prince  Vertgalant 

Amounts  to  —  your  Castilian  helps  enough  — 

Invent  ovem  quce  pcrierat. 

But  ask  the  pretty  votive  statue-thing 

What  the  lost  sheep's  meantime  amusements  were 

Till  the  Archbishop  found  him  !     That  stays  blank ; 


350        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

They  washed  the  fleece  well  and  forgot  the  rest. 
Make  haste,  since  tune  flies,  to  determine,  though!" 

Thus  opportunely  took  up  parable,  — 

Admonishing  Miranda  just  emerged 

Pure  from  The  Ravissante  and  Paris-proof,  — 

Saint  Sganarelle :   then  slipped  aside,  changed  mask, 

And  made  re-entry  as  a  gentleman 

Born  of  the  Boulevard,  with  another  speech, 

I  spare  you. 

So,  the  year  or  two  revolved. 
And  ever  the  young  man  was  dutiful 
To  altar  and  to  hearth:   had  confidence 
In  the  whole  Ravissantish  history. 
Voltaire  ?      Who  ought  to  know  so  much  of  him,  — 
Old  sciolist,  whom  only  boys  think  sage, — 
As  one  whose  father's  house  upon  the  Quai 
Neighbored  the  veiy  house  where  that  Voltaire 
Died  mad  and  raving,  not  without  a  burst 
Of  squibs  and  crackers,  too  significant? 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  351 

Father  and  mother  hailed  their  best  of  sons, 

Type  of  obedience,  domesticity. 

Never  such  an  example  inside  doors  ! 

Outside,  as  well  not  keep  too  close  a  watch ; 

Youth  must  be  left  to  some  discretion  there. 

And  what  discretion  proved,  I  find  deposed 

At  Vire,  confirmed  by  his  own  words  :    to  wit, 

How,  with  the  sprightliness  of  twenty-five, 

Five  —  and  not  twenty,  for  he  gave  their  names 

With  laudable  precision — were  the  few 

Appointed  by  him  unto  mistress-ship ; 

While,  meritoriously  the  whole  long  week 

A  votary  of  commerce  only,  week 

Ended,  "at  shut  of  shop  on  Saturday, 

Do  I,  as  is  my  wont,  get  drunk,"  he  writes 

In  airy  record  to  a  confidant. 

"  Bragging  and  lies  !  "  replied  the  apologist : 

"  And  do  I  lose  by  that  ?  "  laughed  Somebody, 

At  the  Court-edge  a-tiptoe,  'mid  the  crowd. 

In  his  own  clothes,  a-listening  to  men's  Law. 


352        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Thus  while,  prospectively  a  combatant, 
The  volunteer  bent  brows,  clinched   jaws,  and  fierce 
Whistled  the  march-tune  "  Warrior  to  the  wall  !  " 
Something  like  floweiy  laughters  round  his  feet 
Tangled  him  of   a  sudden  with  "  Sleep  first !  " 
And  fairly  flat  upon  the  turf   sprawled  he, 
And    let    strange    creatures    make    his    mouth    their 
home. 

Anyhow,  'tis  the  nature  of  the  soul 

To  seek  a  show  of   durabilit}'. 

Nor,  changing,  plainly  be  the  slave  of  change. 

Outside  the  turf,  the  towers :    but,  round  the  turf, 

A  tent  may  rise,  a  temporary  shroud. 

Mock-faith  to  suit  a  mimic  dwelling-place : 

Tent  which,  while  screening    jollity  inside 

From  the  external  circuit  —  evermore 

A  menace  to  who  lags  when  he  should  march  — 

Yet  stands  a-tremble,  ready  to  collapse 

At  touch  of    foot :    turf    is  acknowledged  grass, 

And  grass,  though  pillowy,  held  contemptible 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  353 

Compared  with  solid  rock,  the  rampired  ridge. 
To  truth,  a  pretty  homage  thus  we  pay- 
By  testifying  —  what  we  dally  with. 
Falsehood,  (which,  never  fear  we  take  for  truth  !) 
We  may  enjoy,  but  then  —  how  we  despise! 

Accordingly,  on  weighty  business  bound. 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  stooped  to  play, 

But,  with  experience,  soon  reduced  the  game 

To  principles,  and  thenceforth  played  by  rule  : 

Rule,  dignifying  sport  as  sport,  proclaimed 

No  less  that  sport  was  sport,  and  nothing  more 

He  understood  the  worth  of  womankind, — 

To  furnish  man  —  provisionally  —  sport : 

Sport  transitive  —  such  earth's  amusements  are  : 

But,  seeing  that  amusements  pall  by  use, 

Variety  therein  is  requisite. 

And  since  the  serious  work  of    life  were  wronged 

Should  we  bestow  importance  on  our  play, 

It  follows,  in  such  womankind  pursuit. 

Cheating  is  lawful  chase.     We  have  to  spend 


.1(^.^1^**' 


354        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

An  hour  —  they  want  a  lifetime  thrown  away : 

We  seek  to  tickle  sense  —  they  ask  for  soul, 

As  if   soul  had  no  higher  ends  to  serve  ! 

A  stag-hunt  gives  the  royal  creature  law: 

Bat-fowling  is  all  fair  with  birds  at  roost, 

The  lantern  and  the  clapnet  suit  the  hedge. 

Which  must  explain  why,  bent  on  Boulevard  game, 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  decently 

Was  prudent  in  his  pleasure  —  passed  himself 

Off    on  the  fragile  fair  about  his  path 

As  the  gay  devil  rich  in  mere  good  looks. 

Youth,    hope  —  what    matter    though    the    purse    be 

void  ? 
"  If    I  were  only  young  Miranda,  now. 
Instead  of    a  poor  clerkly  drudge  at  desk 
All  day,  poor  artist  vainly  bruising  brush 
On  palette,  poor  musician  scraping  gut 
With  horsehair  teased  that  no  harmonics  come  ! 
Then  Avould  I  love  with  liberality. 
Then  would  I  pay! — who  now  shall  be  repaid. 
Repaid  alike  for  present  pain  and  past, 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  m 

If   Mademoiselle  permit  the  contre-danse, 
Sing  '  Gay  in  garret  youth  at  twenty  lives,' 
And  afterward  accept  a  lemonade  !  " 

Such  sweet  facilities  of  intercourse 

AfEord  the  Winter-Garden  and  INIabille  ! 

"  Oh,  I  unite  "  —  runs  on  the  confidence, 

Poor  fellow,  that  was  read  in  open  Court, 

—  "  Amusement  with  discretion  :    never  fear 

My  escapades  cost  more  than  market-price  I 

No  durably-attached  Miranda-dupe, 

Sucked  dry  of    substance  by  two  clinging  lips, 

Promising  marriage,  and  performing  it ! 

Trust  me,  I  know  the  world,  and  know  myself. 

And  know  where  dut}'  takes  me  —  in  good  time  ! " 

Thus  fortified  and  realistic,  then. 
At  all  points  thus  against  illusion  armed, 
He  wisely  did  New  Year  inaugurate 
By  playing  truant  to  the  favored  five  : 
And  sat  installed  at  "  The  Varieties,"  — 


35^         RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

Playhouse  appropriately  named,  —  to  note 
(Prying  amid  the  turf    that's  flowery  there) 
What  primrose,  firstling  of    the  year,  might  push 
The  snows  aside  to  deck  his  button-hole  — 
Unnoticed  by  that  outline  sad,  severe, 
(Though  fifty  good  long  years  removed  from  youth) 
That  tower  and  tower,  —  our  image,  bear  in  mind ! 

No  sooner  was  he  seated  than,  behold, 

Out  burst  a  polyanthus  !      He  w-as  'ware 

Of    a  young  woman  niched  in  neighborhood  ; 

And  ere  one  moment  flitted,  fast  was  he 

Found  bondslave  to  the  beauty  evermore. 

For  life,  for  death,  for  heaven,  for  hell,  her  own. 

Philosophy,  bewail  thy  fate  !      Adieu, 

Youth  realistic  and  illusion-proof ! 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda,  —  hero  late 

Who  "understood  the  worth  of   womankind," 

"Who  found  therein  —  provisionally  —  sport,"  — 

Felt,  in  the  flitting  of   a  moment,  fool 

Was  he,  and  folly  all  that  seemed  so  wise, 


OR,    TURF  AXD    TOWERS.  357 

And  the  best  pi  oof   of   wisdom's  birth  would  be 

That  he  made  all  endeavor,  body,  soul, 

By  any  means,  at  any  sacrifice 

Of   labor,  wealth,  repute,  and  ( —  well,  the  time 

For  choosing  between  heaven  on  earth,  and  heaven 

In  heaven,  was  not  at  hand  immediately — ) 

Made  all  endeavor,  without  loss  incurred 

Of  one  least  minute,  to  obtain  her  love. 

"  Sport  transitive  ?  "     "  Variety  required  ? " 

"In  loving  were  a  lifetime  thrown  away?" 

How  -singularly  may  young  men  mistake  ! 

The  fault  must  be  repaired  with  energ}^ 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  ate  her  up 
With  eye-devouring ;   when  the  unconscious  fair 
Passed  from   the  close-packed  hall,   he   pressed  be- 
hind ; 
She  mounted  vehicle,  he  did  the  same, 
Coach     stopped,     and     cab     fast    followed,    at    one 

door  — 
Good  house  in  unexceptionable  street. 


35?        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Out  stepped  the  lady,  —  never  think,  alone  ! 
A  mother  was  not  wanting  to  the  maid. 
Or,  may  be,  wife,  or  widow,  might  one  say? 
Out  stepped  and  properly  down  flung  himself 
Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  at  her  feet  — 
And  never  left  them  after,  so  to  speak, 
For  twenty  years,   till  his  last  hour  of  life, 
When  he  released  them,  as  precipitate. 
Love  proffered  and  accepted  then  and  there! 
Such  potency  in  word  and  look  has  truth. 

Truth  I  say,  truth  I  mean:    this  love  was  true, 
And  the  rest  happened  by  due  consequence. 
By  which  we  are  to  learn  that  there  exists 
A  falsish  false,  for  truth's  inside  the  same, 
And  truth  that's  only  half    true,  falsish  truth. 
The  better  for  both  parties !    folks  may  taunt 
That  half  your  rock-built  wall  is  rubble-heap: 
Answer  them,  half    their  flowery  turf    is  stones ! 
Our  friend  had  hitherto  been  decking  coat 
If    not  with  stones,  with  weeds  that  stones  befit, 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  359 

With  dandelions  —  "primrose-buds,"  smirked  he; 
This  proved  a  polyanthus  on  his  breast, 
Prize-lawful  or  prize-lawless,  flower  the  same. 
So  with  his  other  instance  of    mistake  : 
Was  Christianit}'  the  Ravissante  ? 

And  what  a  flower  of    flowers  he  chanced  on  now! 

To  primrose,  polyanthus  I  prefer 

As  illustration,  from  the  fancy-fact 

That  out  of    simple  came  the  composite 

By  culture  :    that  the  florist  bedded  thick 

His  primrose-root  in  ruddle,  bullock's  blood, 

Ochre  and  devils'-dung,  for  aught  I  know. 

Until  the  pale  and  pure  grew  fiery-fine. 

Ruby  and  topaz,  rightly  named  anew. 

This  lady  was  no  product  of    the  plain; 

Social  manure  had  raised  a  rarit}-. 

Clara  de  ^Millefleurs  (note  the  happy  name) 

Blazed  in  the  full-blown  glor}-  of    her  Spring. 

Peerlessly  perfect,  form  and  face:    for  both  — 

"Imagine,  what,  at  seventeen,  may  have  proved 


360        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP   COUNTRY ; 

Miss  Pages,  the  actress:    Pages  herself,    my  dear!" 

Noble  she  was,  the  name  denotes:    and  rich? 

"The  apartment  in  this  Coliseum  Street, 

Furnished,  m}^  dear,  with  such  an  elegance, 

Testifies  wealth,  my  dear,  sufficiently ! 

What  quality,  what  style  and  title,  eh? 

Well  now,  waive  nonsense,  you  and  I  are  boys 

No  longer:    somewhere  must  a  screw  be  slack! 

Don't  fancy.  Duchesses  descend  at  door 

From  carriage-step  to  stranger  prostrate  stretched, 

And  bid  him  take  heart,  and  deliver  mind, 

March  in  and  make  himself  at  ease  forthwith, — 

However  broad  his  chest  and  black  his  beard, 

And  comely  his  belongings,  —  all  through  love 

Protested  in  a  world  of   ways  save  one 

Hinting  at  marriage!" — marriage  which  yet  means 

Only  the  obvious  method,  easiest  help 

To  satisfaction  of   love's  first  demiand, 

That  love  endure  eternally  :    "  my  dear, 

Somewhere  or  other  must  a  screw  be  slack ! " 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  361 

Truth  is  the  proper  policy:    from  truth  — 

VVhate'er    the     force     wherewith    you     fling     your 

speech,  — 
Be  sure  that  speech  will  lift  you,  by  rebound, 
Somewhere  above  the  lowness  of   a  lie  ! 
Monsieur  Leonce  ^Miranda  heard  too  true 
A  tale — perhaps  I  may  subjoin,  too  trite! 
As  the  meek  mart)T  takes  her  statued  stand 
Above  our  pity,  claims  our  worship  just 
Because  of  what  she  puts  in  evidence, 
Signal  of  suffering,  badge  of  torture  borne 
In  days  gone  by,  shame  then,  but  glory  now, 
Barb  in  the  breast,  turned  aureole  for  the  front ! 
So,  half  timidit}',  composure  half, 
Clara  de  Millefleurs  told  her  martyrdom. 

Of  jDOor  though  noble  parentage,  deprived 

Too  early  of  a  father's  guardianship, 

Wliat  wonder  if  the  prodigality 

Of  nature  in  the  girl,  whose  mental  gifts 

Matched  her  external  dowr)-,  form  and  face  — 


362      RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 


1 


If  these  suggested  a  too  prompt  resource 

To  the  resourceless  mother  ?     "  Try  the  Stage, 

And  so  escape  starvation !     Prejudice 

Defames  mimetic  art:    be  yours  to  prove 

That  gold  and  dross  may  meet,  and  never  mix, 

Purity  plunge  in  pitch,  yet  soil  no  plume  !  " 


All  was  prepared  in  London  —  (you  conceive 
The  natural  shrinking  from  publicity 
In  Paris,  where  the  name  excites  remark) 
London  was  ready  for  the  grand  debut ; 
When  some  perverse  ill  fortune,  incident 
To  art  mimetic,  some  malicious  thrust 
Of  Jealousy  who  sidles  'twixt  the  scenes. 
Or  pops  up  sudden  from  the  prompter's  hole,  • 
Somehow  the  brilliant  bubble  burst  in  suds. 
Want  followed  :    in  a  foreign  land,  the  pair  ! 
Oh  !    hurry  over  the  catastrophe  — 
Mother  too  sorely  tempted,  daughter  tried 
Scarcely  so  much  as  circumvented,  say ! 
Caged  unsuspecting  artless  innocence ! 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  .363 

]\Ionsieur  Leonce  IMiranda  tell  the  rest !  — 

The  rather  that  he  told  it  in  a  style 

To  puzzle  Court  Guide  students,  much  more  me. 

"  Brief,  she  became  the  favorite  of  Lord  N., 

An  aged  but  illustrious  Duke,  thereby 

Breaking  the  heart  of  his  competitor. 

The  Prince  of  O.      Behold  her  palaced  straight 

In  splendor,  clothed  in  diamonds,"  (phrase  how  fit !) 

"  Giving  tone  to  the  City  by  the  Thames ! 

Lord  N.,  the  aged  but  illustrious  Duke, 

Was  even  on  the  point  of   wedding  her  — 

Giving  his  name  to  her  "  (why  not  to  us  ?) 

"  But  that  her  better  angel  interposed. 

She  fled  from  such  a  fate  to  Paris  back, 

A  fortnight  since:    conceive  Lord  N.'s  despair! 

Duke  as  he  is,  there's  no  invading  France, 

He  must  restrict  pursuit  to  postal  plague 

Of   writing  letters  daily,  duly  read 

As  darlingly  she  hands  them  to  myself, 

The  privileged  supplanter,  who  therewith 

Liffht  a  cisrar  and  see  abundant  blue  "  — 


364        RED    COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

(Either  of  heaven  or  else  Havana-smoke.) 

"  Think  !    she,  who  helped  herself  to  diamonds  late, 

In  passion  of  disinterestedness 

Now  —  will  accept  no  tribute  of  my  love 

Beyond  a  paltry  ring,  three  Louis'-worth ! 

Little  she  knows  I  have  the  rummaging 

Of  old  Papa's  shop  in  the  Place  Vendome  ! " 

So  wrote  entrancedly  to  confidant, 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda.       Surely  now, 

If  Heaven,  that  sees  all,  understands  no  less, 

It  finds  temptation  pardonable  here. 

It  mitigates  the  promised  punishment, 

It  recognizes  that  to  tarry  just 

An  April  hour  amid  such  dainty  turf 

Means  no  rebellion  against  task  imposed 

Of  journey  to  the  distant  wall  one  day! 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  puts  the  case ! 

Love,  he  is  purposed  to  renounce,  abjure  ; 

But  meanwhile,  is  the  case  a  common  one  ? 

Is  it  the  vulgar  sin,  none  hates  as  he  ? 


OR,    TURF  AND   TOWERS.  3^5 

^^^lich  question,  put  directly  to  "his  dear" 
(His  brother  —  I  will  tell  you  in  a  trice) 
Was  doubtless  meant,  by  due  meandering, 
To  reach,  to  fall  not  unobsen-ed  before 
The  auditory  cavern  'neath  the  cope 
Of  Her,  the  placable,  the  Ravissante. 
But  here's  the  drawback,  that  the  image  smiles, 
Smiles  on,  smiles  ever,  says  to  supplicant 
"Ay,  a}',  ay"  —  like  some  kindly  weathercock 
Which,  stuck  fast  at  Set  Fair,  Favonian  Breeze, 
Still  warrants  you  from  rain,  through  Auster's  lead 
Bring  down  the  sky  above  your  cloak!  ess  mirth. 
Had  he  proposed  this  question  to,  nor  "  dear  " 
Nor  Ravissante,  but  prompt  to  the  Police, 
The  Commissar}^  of  his  Quarter,  now  — 
There  had  been  shaggy  eyebrows  elevate 
With  twinkling  apprehension  in  each  orb 
Beneath,  and  when  the  sudden  shut  of  mouth 
Relaxed,  —  lip  pressing  lip,  lest  out  should  plump 
The  pride  of   knowledge  in  too  frank  a  flow,  — 
Then,  fact  on  fact  forthcoming,  dose  were  dealt 


366       RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Of  truth  remedial,  in  sufficiency 

To  save  a  chicken  threatened  with  the  pip, 

Head-staggers  and  a  tumble  from  its  perch. 

Alack,  it  was  the  lady's  self  that  made 

The  revelation,  after  certain  days 

—  Nor  so  unwisely  !     As  the  hashish-man 

Prepares  a  novice  to  receive  his  drug, 

Adroitly  hides  the  soil  with  sudden  spread 

Of  carpet  ere  he  seats  his  customer  : 

Then  shows  him  how  to  smoke  himself  about 

With  Paradise  ;    and  only  when,  at  puff 

Of  pipe,  the  Houri  dances  round  the  brain 

Of  dreamer,  does  he   judge  no  need  is  now 

For  circumspection  and  punctiliousness  ; 

He  may  resume  the  serviceable  scrap 

That  made  the  votary  unaware  of  muck. 

Just  thus  the  lady,  when  her  brewage  —  love  — 

Was  well  a-fume  about  the  novice-brain. 

Saw  she  might  boldly  pluck,  from  underneath 

Her  lover,  the  preliminary  lie. 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  3^7 

Clara  de  Millefleurs,  of  the  noble  race, 

Was  Lucie  Steiner,  child  to  Dominique 

And  Magdalen  Commercy  ;   born  at  Sierck, 

About  the  bottom  of  the  Social  Couch. 

The  father  having  come  and  gone  again, 

The  mother  and  the  daughter  found  their  way 

To  Paris,  and  professed  mode-merchondise  ; 

Were  milliners,  we  English  roughlier  say  ; 

And  soon  a  fellow-lodger  in  the  house, 

Monsieur  Ulysse  Muhlhausen  young  and  smart, 

Tailor  by  trade,  perceived  his  house-mate's  youth 

Smartness,  and  beauty  over  and   above. 

Courtship  was  brief,  and  marriage  followed  quick, 

And  quicklier  —  impecuniosity. 

The  young  pair  quitted  Paris  to  reside 

At  London  :    which  repaid  the  compliment 

But  scurvily,  since  not  a  wit  the  more 

Trade  prospered  by  the  Thames  than  by  the  Seine. 

Failing  all  other,  as  a  last  resource, 

"He  would  have  trafficked  in  his  wife," — she  said. 

If  for  that  cause  they  quarrelled,  'twas,   I   fear. 


368        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Rather  from  reclamation  of  her  rights 

To  wifely  independence,  than  as  wronged 

Otherwise  by  the  course  of  life  proposed: 

Since,  on  escape  to  Paris  back  again. 

From  horror  and  the  husband,  —  ill-exchanged 

For  safe  maternal  home  recovered  thus, — 

I  find  her  domiciled  and  dominant 

In  that  apartment,  Coliseum  Street, 

Where  all  the  splendid  magic  met  and  mazed 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda's  venturous  eye. 

Only,  the  same  was  furnished  at  the  cost 

Of  some  one  notable  in  days  long  since, 

Carlino  Centofanti :    he  it  was, 

Found  entertaining  unawares  —  if   not 

An  angel,  yet  a    youth  in  search  of  one. 

Why  this  reveal ment  after  reticence  ? 
Wherefore,  beginning  "  Millefleurs,"  end  at  all 
Steiner,  Muhlhausen,  and  the  ugly  rest  ? 
Because  the  unsocial  purse-controlling  wight, 
Carlino  Centofanti,  made  aware 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  369 

By  misadventure  that  his  bounty  —  crumbs 
From  table  —  comforted  a  visitant, 
Took  churlish  leave,  and  left,  too,  debts  to  pay. 
Loaded  with  debts,  the  lady  needs  must  bring 
Her  soul  to  bear  assistance  from  a  friend 
Beside  that  paltry  ring,  three  Louis'-worth  ; 
And  therefore  might  the  little  circumstance 
That  Monsieur  Leonce  had  the  rummaging 
Of  Old  Papa's  shop  in  the  Place  Vendume, 
Pass,  perhaps,  not  so  unobser\-ably. 

Frail  shadow  of  a  woman  in  the  flesh, 

These  very  eyes  of  mine  saw  yesterday, 

Would  I  re-tell  this  story  of  your  woes, 

AA'ould  I  have  heart  to  do    you  detriment 

By  pinning  all  this  shame  and  sorrow  plain 

To  that  poor  chignon,  7—  staying  with  me  still, 

Though  form  and  face  have  well  nigh  faded  now,  — 

But  that  men  read  it,  rough  in  brutal  print, 

As  two  years  since  some  functionarj-'s  voice 

Rattled  all  this  —  and  more  by  verj'  much  — 


37°        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Into  the  ear  of  vulgar  Court  and  crowd, 

Whence,  by  reverberation,  rumblings  grew 

To  what  had  proved  a  week-long  roar  in  France, 

Had  not  the  dreadful  cannonry  drowned  all. 

Was,  now,  the  answer  of  your  advocate 

More  than   just  this?     "The  shame  fell  long  ago, 

The  sorrow  keeps  increasing :    God  forbid 

We  judge  man,  by  the  faults  of  youth,  in  age  !  " 

Permit  me  the  expression  of   a  hope 

Your  youth  proceeded  like  your  avenue, 

Stepping  by  bush,  and  tree,  and  taller  tree, 

Until,  columnar,  at  the  house  they  end. 

So  might  your  creeping  youth,  columnar  rise 

And  reach,  by  year  and  year,  symmetrical, 

To    where    all    shade    stops    short,    shade's     service 

done. 
Bushes  on  either  side,  and  boughs  above, 
Darken,  deform  the  path,  else  sun  would  streak  ; 
And,  cornered  halfv;ay  somewhere,  I  suspect 
Stagnation  and  a  horse-pond  :    hurr}^  past ! 
For  here's  the  house,  the  happy  half-and-half 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS  371 

Existence  —  such  as  stands  for  happiness 

True  and  entire,  howe'er  the  squeamish  talk ! 

Twenty  years  long,  you  may  have  loved  this  man  ; 

He  must  have  loved  you;    that's  a  happy  life, 

Whatever  was  your  right  to  lead  the  same. 

The  white  domestic  pigeon  pairs  secure, 

Nay,  does  mere  duty  by  bestowing  ^gg 

In  authorized  compartment,  warm  and  safe, 

Boarding  about,  and  gilded  spire  above, 

Hoisted  on  pole,  to  dogs'  and  cats'  despair! 

But  I  have  spied  a  veriest  trap  of  twigs 

On  tree-top,  eveiy  straw  a  thievery. 

Where  the  wild  dove  —  despite  the  fowler's  snare. 

The  sportsman's  shot,  the   urchin's    stone,  —  crooned 

gay. 

And  solely  gave  her  heart  to  what  she  hatched, 

Nor  minded  a  malignant  world  below. 

/  throw  first  stone  forsooth  ?      'Tis  mere  assault 

Of    playful  sugarplum  against  your  cheek, 

Which,  if  it    makes  cheek  tingle,  wipes  off    rouge  ! 

You,  my  worst  woman  ?      Ah,  that  touches  pride, 


372        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Puts  on  his  mettle  the  exhibiter 

Of  Night-caps,  if   you  taunt  him  "  This,  no  doubt,  — 

Now  we  have  got  to  Female-garniture, — 

Crowns  your  collection.  Reddest  of    the  row  ! " 

O  unimaginative  ignorance 

Of    what  dye's  depth  keeps  best  apart  from    worst 

In  womankind!  —  how  heaven's  own  pure  may  seem 

To  blush  aurorally  beside  such  blanched 

Divineness  as  the  women-wreaths  named  WTiite : 

While  hell,  eruptive  and  fuliginous. 

Sickens  to  ver)'  pallor  as  I  point 

Her  place  to  a  Red  clout  called  woman  too ! 

Hail,  heads  that  ever  had  such  glory  once 

Touch  you  a  moment,  like  God's  cloven  tongues 

Of   fire,  your  lambent  aureoles  lost,  that  leave 

You  marked  yet,  dear  beyond  all  diadems ! 

And  hold,  each  foot,  nor  spurn,  to  man's  disgrace, 

What  other  twist  of    fetid  rag  may  fall ! 

Let  slink  into  the  sewer  the  cupping-cloth! 

Luc'e,  much  solaced,  I  re-finger  you. 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  373 

The  medium  article  ;    if   ruddy  marked 
With  iron-mould,  your  cambric, — clean  at  least 
From  poi  on-speck  of   rot  and  purulence  ! 
Lucie  Muhlhausen  said  — "'  Such  thing  am  I  : 
Love  me,  or  love  me  not ! "      Miranda  said, 
"I  do  love,  more  than  ever,  most  for  this." 
The  revelation  of    the  very  truth, 
Proved  the  concluding  necessary  shake 
That  bids  the  tardy  mixture  cr}-stallize 
Or  else  stay  ever  liquid  :    shoot  up  shaft. 
Durably  diamond,  or  evaporate  — 
Sluggish  solution  through  a  minute's  slip. 
]\Ionsieur  Leonce  Miranda  took  his  soul 
In  both  his  hands,  as  if   it  were  a  vase, 
To  see  what  came  of   the  convulsion  there, 
And  found,  amid  subsidence,  love  new-born 
So  sparklingly  resplendent,  old  was  new. 
"Wliatever  be  my  lady's  present,  past. 
Or  future,  this  is  certain  of   my  soul, 
I  love  her  !    in  despite  of    all  I  know, 
Defiance  of   the  much  I  have  to  fear. 


374        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAF  COUNTRY; 

• 
I  venture  happiness  on  what  I  hope, 

And  love  her  from  this  day  forevermore ! 

No  prejudice  to  old  profound  respect 

For  certain  Powers!     I  trust  they  bear  in  mind 

A  most  peculiar  case,  and  straighten  out 

What's  crooked  there,  before  we  close  accounts. 

Renounce  the  world  for  them  —  some  day  I  will 

Meantime,  to  me  let  her  become  the  world  ! " 

Thus,  mutely  might  our  friend  soliloquize 
Over  the  tradesmen's  bills,  his  Clara's  gift  — 
In  the  apartment,  Coliseum  Street, 
Carlino   Centofanti's  legacy. 
Provided  I'ent  and  taxes  were  discharged  — 
In  face  of    Steiner  now,  De  iVEillefleurs  once. 
The  tailor's  wife  and  runaway  confessed. 

On  such  a  lady  if    election  light, 
(According  to  a  social  prejudice) 
If  henceforth  "  all  the  world  "  she  constitute 
For  any  lover,  —  needs  must  he  renounce 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  375 

Our  world  in  ordinary,  walked  about 

By  couples  loving  as  our  laws  prescribe, — 

Renunciation  sometimes  difficult. 

But,  in  this  instance,  time  and  place  and  thing 

Combined  to  simplify  experiment. 

And  make  Miranda,  in  the  current  phrase, 

Master  the  situation  passably. 

For  first  facility,  his  brother  died  — 

Who  was,  I  should  have  told  you,  confidant. 

Adviser,  referee,  and  substitute. 

All  from  a  distance  :    but  I  knew  how  soon 

This  younger  brother,  lost  in  Portugal, 

Had  to  depart  and  leave  our  friend  at  large. 

Cut  off  abruptly  from  companionship 

\\'ith  brother-soul  of  bulk  about  as  big, 

(Obvious  recipient — by  intelligence 

And  sympatlw,  poor  little  pair  of  souls  — 

Of  much  affection  and  some  foolishness) 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda,  meant  to  lean 

By  nature,  needs  must  shift  the  leaning-place 


376        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

To  his  love's  bosom  from  his  brother's  neck, 
Or  fall  flat  unrelieved  of  freight  sublime. 

Next  died  the  lord  of  the  Aladdin's  cave, 

Master  o'  the  mint,  and  keeper  of  the  keys 

Of  chests  chock-full  with  gold  and  silver  changed 

By  Art  to  forms  ^Yhere  wealth  forgot  itself, 

And  caskets  where  reposed  each  pullet-egg 

Of  diamond,  slipping  flame  from  fifty  slants. 

In  short,  the  father  of  the  family 

Took  his  departure  also  from  our  scene. 

Leaving  a  fat  succession  to  his  heir, 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda,  —  "  fortunate, 

If  ever  man  was,  in  a  father's  death," 

(So  commented  the  world,  —  not  he,  too  kind, 

Could  that  be,  rather  than  scarce  kind  enough) 

Indisputably  fortunate  so  far, 

That  little  of  encumbrance  in  his  path, 

Which  money  kicks  aside,  would  lie  there  long. 

And  finally,  a  rough  but  wholesome  shock, 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  377 

An  accident  which  comes  to  kill  or  cure, 

A  jerk  which  mends  a  dislocated  joint ! 

Such  happy  chance,  at  cost  of  twinge,  no  doubt, 

Into  the  socket  back  again  put  truth, 

And  stopped  the  limb  from  longer  dragging  lie. 

For  love  suggested,  "  Better  shamble  on. 

And  bear  your  lameness  with  what  gi-ace  you  may ! " 

And  but  for  this  rude  wholesome  accident. 

Continuance  of  disguise  and  subterfuge. 

Retention  of  first  falsehood  as  to  name 

And  nature  in  the  lady,  might  have  proved 

Too  necessary  for  abandonment. 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  probably 

Had  else  been  loath  to  cast  the  mask  aside, 

So  politic,  so  self-preservative, 

Therefore  so  pardonable  —  though  so  wrong  ! 

For  see  the  bugbear  in  the  background  !     Breathe ' 

But  ugly  name,  and  wind  is  sure  *to  waft 

The  husband  news  of  the  wife's  whereabout : 

From  where  he  lies  perdue  in  London  town, 

Forth  steps  the  needy  tailor  on  the  stage. 


378        RED  COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

Deity-like  from  dusk  machine  of  fog, 

And  claims  his  consort,  or  his  consort's  worth 

In  rubies  which  her  price  is  far  above. 

Hard  to  propitiate,  harder  to  oppose,  — 

Who  but  the  man's  self  came  to  banish  fear, 

A  pleasant  apparition,  such  as  shocks 

A  moment,  tells  a  tale,  then  goes  for  good  ! 

Monsieur  Ul3'sse  Muhlhausen  proved  no  less 

Nor  more  than  "  Gustave,"  lodging  opposite 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda's  diamond-cave 

And  ruby-mine,  and  lacking  little  thence 

Save  that  its  gnome  would  keep  the  captive  safe, 

Never  return  his  Clara  to  his  arms. 

For  why  ?     He  was  become  the  man  in  vogue, 

The  indispensable  to  who  went  clothed 

Nor  cared  encounter  Paris  fashion's  blame,  — 

Such  miracle  could  London  absence  work. 

Rolling  in  riches  —  so  translate  "  the  vogue  "  — 

Rather  his  object  was  to  keep  off  claw 

Should  griffin  scent  the  gold,  should  wife  lay  claim 


OR,    TURF  AND   TOWERS.  379 

To  lawful  portion  at  a  future  day, 

Than  tempt  his  partner  from  her  private  spoils. 

Best  forage  each  for  each,  nor  coupled  hunt ! 

Pursuantly,  one  morning,  —  knock  at  door 

With  knuckle,  dry  authoritative  cough, 

And  easy  stamp  of  foot,  broke  startlingly 

On  household  slumber,  Coliseum  Street : 

"  Admittance  in  the  name  of  Law  !  "     In  marched 

The  Commissary  and  subordinate. 

One  glance  sufficed  them.     "  A  marital  pair  : 

We  certify,  and  bid  good  morning,  sir  ! 

Madame,  a  thousand  pardons  !  "     Whereupon 

Monsieur  Ulysse  Muhlhausen,  otherwise 

Called  "  Gustave  "  for  conveniency  of  trade, 

Deposing  in  due  form  complaint  of  wrong. 

Made  his  demand  of  remedy  —  divorce 

From  bed,  board,  share  of  name,  and  part  in  goods. 

Monsieur  Lconce  Miranda  owned  his  fault. 

Protested  his  pure  ignorance,  from  first 

To  last,  of    rights  infringed  in  "  Gustave's "  case : 


380        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

Submitted  him  to  judgment      Law  decreed 

"  Body  and  goods  be  henceforth  separate  ! " 

And  thereupon  eacli  party  took  its  way, 

This  right,  this  left,  rejoicing,  to  abide 

Estranged  yet  amicable  opposites 

In  life  as  in  respective  dwelling-place. 

Still  does  one  read  on  his  establishment 

Huge-lettered  "Gustave,"  —  gold  out-glittering 

"  Miranda,  goldsmith,"  just  across  the  street  — 

"A  first-rate  hand  at  riding-habits"  —  say 

The  instructed  —  "  special  cut  of  chamber-robes." 

Thus  by  a  rude  in  seeming  —  rightlier  judged 
Beneficent  surprise,  publicity 

Stopped  further  fear  and  trembling,  and  what  tale 
Cowardice  thinks  a  covert :    one  bold  splash 
Into  the  mid-shame,  and  the  shiver  ends, 
Though  cramp  and  drowning  may  begin  perhaps. 

To  cite  just  one  more  point  which  crowned  success; 
Madame,  Miranda's  mother,  most  of  all 


OR,    TURF  AXD    TOWERS.  381 

An  obstacle  to  his  projected  life 

In  license,  as  a  daughter  of  the  Church, 

Duteous,  exemplary,  severe  by  right  — 

Moreover  one  most  thoroughly  beloved 

Without  a  rival  till  the  other  sort 

Possessed  her  son,  —  first  storm  of  anger  spent, 

Seemed,  grumblingly  and  grudgingly  no  doubt. 

To  aquiesce,  let  be  what  needs  must  be. 

•'With  Heaven  —  accommodation  possible!" 

Saint  Sganarelle  had  preached  with  such  effect. 

She  saw  now  mitigating  circumstance. 

"The  erring  one  was  most  unfortunate. 

No  question :    but  worse  Magdalens  repent. 

Were  Clara  free,  did  only  Law  allow, 

What  fitter  choice  in  marriage  could  have  made 

Leonce  or  anybody  ? "      'Tis  alleged 

And  evidenced,  I  find,  by  advocate, 

"  Never  did  she  consider  such  a  tie 

As  baleful,  springe  to  snap  whate'er  the  cost." 

And  when  the  couple  were  in  safety  once 

At  Clairvaux,  motherh^,  considerate, 


3S2        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

She  shrank  not  from  advice.       "  Since  safe  you  be, 

Safely  abide  !    for  Winter,  I  know  well, 

Is  troublesome  in  a  cold  countr}--house. 

I  recommend  the  south  room,  that  we  styled. 

Your  sire  and  I,  the  Winter-chamber." 

Chance 
Or  purpose, — who  can  read  the  mystery?  — 
Combined,  I  say,  to  bid  "  Entrench  yourself, 
Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda,  on  this  turf. 
About  this  flower,  so  firmly  that,  as  tent 
Rises  on  every  side  around  you  both. 
The  question  shall  become,  —  Which  arrogates 
Stabilit}',  tent  or  towers  afar  ? 
May  not  the  temporary  structure  suit 
The  stable  circuit,  co-exist  in  peace  ?  — 
Always  until  the  proper  time,  no  fear! 
'  Lay  flat  your  tent ! '  is  easier  said  than  done." 

So,  with  the  best  of  auspices,  betook 
Themselves  Leonce  Miranda  and  his  bride  — 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  3^3 

Provisionary  —  to  their  Clairvaux  house, 
Never  to  leave  it  — Till  the  proper  time. 

I  told  you  what  was  Clairvaux-Priory 

Ere  the  improper  time  :    an  old  demesne 

With  memories,  —  relic,  half,  and  ruin,  whole, — 

The  very  place,  then,  to  repair  the  wits 

Worn  out  with  Paris-traffic,  when  its  lord, 

Miranda's  father,  took  his  month  of   ease 

Purchased  by  industry.      What  contrast  here  ! 

Repose  and  solitude,  and  healthy  ways  ! 

That  ticking  at  the  back  of  head,  he  took 

For  motion  of  an  inmate,  stopped  at  once, 

Proved  nothing  but  the  pavement's  rattle  left 

Behind  at  Paris :    here  was  holiday  ! 

Welcome  the  quaint  succeeding  to  the  spruce. 

The  large  and  lumbersome  and  —  might  he  breathe 

In  whisper  to  his  own  ear  —  dignified 

And  gentry-fashioned  old-style  haunts  of  sleep ! 

Palatial  gloomy  chambers  for  parade, 

And  passage-lengths  of  lost  significance. 


384        RED    COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

Never  constructed  as  receptacle, 

At  his  odd  hours,  for  him  their  actual  lord 

By  dint  of  diamond-dealing,  goldsmithry. 

Therefore  Miranda's  father  chopped  and  changed 

Nor  roof-tile  nor  yet  floor-brick,  undismayed 

By  rains  a-top  or  rats  at  bottom  there. 

Such  contrast  is  so  piquant  for  a  month  ! 

But  now  arrived  quite  other  occupants 

Whose  cry  was  "  Permanency,  —  life  and  death 

Here,  here,  not  elsewhere,  change  is  all  we  dread  !  " 

Their  dwelling-place  must  be  adapted,  then. 

To  inmates,  no  mere  truants  from  the  town, 

No  temporary  sojourners,  forsooth, 

At  Clairvaux  :    change  it  into  Paradise ! 

Fair  friend,  —  who  listen  and  let  talk,  al-as  !  — 
You  would,  in  even  such  a  state  of   things, 
Pronounce,  —  or  am  I  wrong  ?  —  for  bidding  stay 
The  old-world  inconvenience,  fresh  as  found. 
All  folks  of    individuality 
l*refer  to  be  reminded,  now  and  then, 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  3S5 

Though  at  the  cost  of  vulgar  cosiness, 

That  the  shell-outside  only  harbors  man 

The  vital  and  progressive,  meant  to  build, 

When  build  he  may,  \\\i\\  quite  a   difference, 

Some  time,  in  that  far  land  we  dream  about, 

Where  every  man  is  his  own  architect. 

But  then  the  couple  here  in  question,  each 

At  one  in  project  for  a  happy  life. 

Were  by  no  acceptation  of    the  word 

So  individual  that  they  must  aspire 

To  architecture  all-appropriate, 

And  therefore,  in  this  world  impossible : 

They  needed  house  to  suit  the  circumstance, 

Proprietors,  not  tenants  for  a  term. 

Despite  a  certain  marking,  here  and  there, 

Of    fleecy  black  or  white  distinguishment. 

These  vulgar  sheep  wore  the  flock's  uniform. 

They  love  the  country,  they  renounce  the  town? 

They  gave  a  kick,  as  our  Italians  say. 

To  Paris  ere  it  turned  and  kicked  themselves  ! 

Acquaintances  might  prove  too  hard  to  seek, 


386       RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Or  the  reverse  of    hard  to  find,  perchance, 

Since  Monsieur  Gustave's  apparition  there. 

And  let  me  call  remark  upon  the  list 

Of    notabilities  invoked,  in  Court 

At  Vire,  to  witness,  by  their  phrases  culled 

From  correspondence,  what  was  the  esteem 

Of    those  we  pay  respect  to,  for  "  the  pair 

Whereof    they  knew  the  inner  life,"  'tis  said. 

Three,  and  three  only,  answered  the  appeal. 

First,  Monsieur  Vaillant,  music-publisher, 

"Begs  Madame  will  accept  civilities." 

Next,  Alexandre  Dumas,  —  sire,  not  son, — 

"  Sends  compliments  to  Madame  and  to  you." 

And  last  —  but  now  prepare  for  England's  voice! 

I  will  not  mar  nor  make — here's  word  for  word  — 

"  A  rich  proprietor  of  Paris,  he 

To  whom  belonged  that  beauteous  Bagatelle 

Close  to  the  wood  of    Boulogne,  Hertford  hight. 

Assures  of    homages  and  compliments 

Affectionate  "  —  not  now  ]\Iiranda  but 

"  Madame  Muhlhausen."     (Was  this  friend,  the  Duke 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  387 

Redoubtable  in  rivalrj-  before  ?) 
Such  was  the  evidence  wlien  evidence 
Was  wanted,  then  if    ever,  to  the  worth 
Whereat  acquaintances  in  Paris  prized 
Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda's  liousehold  charm.  . 
No  wonder,  then,  his  impulse  was  to  live, 
In  Norman  solitude,   the  Paris  life  : 
Surround  himself  with  Art  transported  thence, 
And  nature  like  those  famed  Elysian  Fields: 
Then,  warm  up  the  right  color  out  of    both. 
By  Boulevard  friendships  tempted  to  come  taste 
How  Paris  lived  again  in  little  there. 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  practised  Art. 
Do  let  a  man  for  once  live  as  man  likes  ! 
Politics  ?      Spend  your  life,  to  spare  the  world's : 
Improve  each  unit  by  some  particle 
Of    joy  the  more,  deteriorate  the  orb 
Entire,  your  own  :    poor  profit,  dismal  loss  ! 
Write  books,  paint  pictures,  or  make  music  —  since 
Your  nature  leans  to  such  life-exercise  ! 


388         RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Ay,  but  such  exercise  begins  too  soon, 
Concludes  too  late,  demands  life  whole  and  sole, 
Artistry  being  battle  with  the  age 
It  lives  in  !      Half    life,  —  silence,  while  you  learn 
What  has  been  done  ;    the  other  half,  —  attempt 
At    speech,  amid  world's  wail  of    wonderment  — 
"  Here's  something  done,  was  never  done  before  !  " 
To  be  the  very  breath  that  moves  the  age. 
Means  not,  to  have  breath  drive  you  bubble-like 
Before  it  —  but  yourself    to  blow  :    that's  strain  ; 
Strain's  worry  through  the  life-time,  till  there's  peace  \ 
We  know  where  peace  expects  the  artist-soul. 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  knew  as  much. 
Therefore  in  Art  he  nowise  cared  to  be 
Creative  ;    but  creation,  that  had  birth 
In  storminess  long  years  before  was  born 
Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda,  —  Art,  enjoyed 
Like  fleshly  objects  of  the  chase  that  tempt 
In  cookery,  not  capture  —  these  might  feast 
The  dilettante,  furnish  tavern-fare 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  389 

Open  to  all  with  purses  open  too. 

To  sit  free  and  take  tribute  seigneur-like  — 

Now,  not  too  lavish  of  acknowledgment, 

Now,  self-indulgently  profuse  of  pay, 

Always  Art's  seigneur,  not  Art's  serving-man, 

\\Tiate'er  the  style  and  title  and  degree,  — 

That  is  the  quiet  life  and  easy  death 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  would  approve 

Wholly  —  provided  (back  I  go  again 

To  the  first  simile)  that  v/hile  glasses  clink. 

And  viands  steam,  and  b'anqueting  laughs  high, 

All  that's  outside  the  temporary  tent, 

The  dim  grim  outline  of  the  circuit-wall, 

Forgets  to  menace  "  soon  or  late  will  drop 

Pavilion,  soon  or  late  you  needs  must  march, 

And  laggards  will  be  sorry  they  were  slack! 

Always  —  unless  excuse  sound  plausible!" 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  knew  as  much  : 
Whence  his  determination  just  to  paint 
So  creditably  as  might  help  the  eye 


39 o        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP   COUNTRY; 

To  comprehend  how  painter's  eye  grew  dim 

Ere  it  produced  L'Ingegno's  piece  of  work  — 

So  to  become  musician  that  his  ear 

Should  judge,  by  its  own  tickling  and  turmoil, 

Who  made  the  Solemn  Mass  might  well  die  deaf  — 

So  cultivate  a  literar}'  knack 

That,  by  experience  how  it  whiles  the  time, 

He  might  imagine  how  a  poet,  rapt 

In  rhyming  wholly,  grew  so  poor  at  last 

By  carelessness  about  his  banker's-book. 

That  the  Sieur  Boileau  (to  provoke  our  smile) 

Began  abruptly. — when  he  paid  devoir 

To  Louis  Quatorze  as  he  dined  in  state,  — 

"  Sire,  send  a  drop  of  broth  to  Pierre  Corneille 

Now  dying  and  in  want  of  sustenance  ! " 

—  I  say,  these  half-hour  playings  at  life's  toil, 

Diversified  by  billiards,  riding,  sport  — 

With  now  and  then  a  visitor  —  Dumas, 

Hertford  —  to  check  no  aspiration's  flight  — 

While  Clara,  like  a  diamond  in  the  dark, 

Should  extract  shining  from  what  else  were  shade, 


Oi:,    TURF  AXD   TOWERS.  39' 

And  multiply  chance  rays  a  million-fold, — 
How  could  he  doubt  that  all  offence  outside, — 
Wrong  to  the  towers,  which,  pillowed  on  the  turf, 
He  thus  shut  eyes  to,  —  were  as  good  as  gone  ? 

So,  down  went  Clairvaux-Prior}'  to  dust, 
And  up  there  rose,  in  lieu,  yon  structure  gay 
Above  the  Norman  ghosts :    and  where  the  stretch 
Of    barren  country  girdled  house  about, 
Behold  the  Park,  the  English  preference ! 
Thus  made  undoubtedly  a  desert  smile, 
Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda, 

Ay,  but  she  ? 
One  should  not  so  merge  soul  in  soul,  you  think? 
And  I  think :    only  let  us  wait,  nor  want 
Two  things  at  once  —  her  turn  will  come  in  time. 
A  cork-float  danced  upon  the  tide,  we  saw, 
This  morning,  blinding-bright  with  brin}^  dews: 
There  was  no  disengaging  soaked  from  sound, 
Earth-product  from  the  sister-element. 


392        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY. 

But  when  we  turn,  the  tide  will  turn,  I  think, 
And  bare  on  beach  will  lie  exposed  the  buoy: 
A  very  proper  time  to  tr}',  with  foot 
And  even  finger,  which  was  buoying  wave, 
Which  merely  buoyant  substance,  —  power  to  lift, 
And  power  to  be  sent  skyward  passively. 
Meanwhile,  no  separation  of  the  pair ! 


r 


fc.      -  .       .        .  ■ 


.  7J 


^^^ 


III. 

And  so  slipt  pleasantly  away  five  years 

Of  Paradisiac  dream  ;    till,  as  there  flit 

Premonitory  symptoms,  pricks  of  pain, 

Because  the  dreamer  has  to  start  awake 

And  find  disease  dwelt  active  all  the  while 

In  head  or  stomach  through  his  night-long  sleep, 

So  happened  here  disturbance  to  content. 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda's  last  of  cares, 
Ere  he  composed  himself,  had  been  to  make 
Provision,  that,  while  sleeping  safe  he  lay, 
Somebody  else  should,  dragon-like,  let  fall 
Never  a  lid,  coiled  round  the  apple-stem. 


394        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

But  watch  the  precious  fruitage.     Somebody 
Kept  shop,  in  short,  played  Paris  substitute. 
Himself,  shrewd,  well-trained,  early  exercised. 
Could  take  in,  at  an  eye-glance,  luck  or  loss  — 
Know  commerce  throve,  though  lazily  uplift 
On  elbow  merely:    leave  his  bed,  forsooth? 
Such  active  service  was  the  substitute's. 

But  one  October  morning,  at  first  drop 

Of  appled  gold,  first  summons  to  be  grave 

Because  rough  Autumn's  play  turns  earnest  now, 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  was  required 

In  Paris  to  take  counsel,  face  to  face, 

With  Madame-mother :   and  be  rated,  too. 

Roundly  at  certain  items  of  expense 

Whereat  the  government  provisional. 

The  Paris  substitute  and  shopkeeper. 

Shook  head,  and  talked  of  funds  inadequate  : 

Oh,  in  the  long  run,  —  not  if  remedy 

Occurred  betimes  !     Else,  —  tap  the  generous  bole 

Too  near  the  quick,  —  it  withers  to  the  root  — 


OR,    TURF  AXD    TOWERS.  395 

Leafy,  prolific,  golden  apple-tree, 

"  Miranda,"  sturdy  in  the  Place  Vendome ! 

"■  What  is  this  reckless  life  you  lead  ? "  began 

Madame  Miranda,  —  whom  he  feared  and  loved,  — 

Her  greeting.     "  Luxury,  extravagance, 

Sardanapalus'  self  might  emulate,  — 

Did  your  good  father's  money  go  for  this  ? 

Where  are  the  fruits  of  education,  where 

The  morals  which  at  first  distinguished  you, 

The  faith  which  promised  to  adorn  your  age  ? 

And  why  such  wastefulness  outbreaking  now, 

When  heretofore  you  loved  economy  ? 

Explain  this  pulling  down  and  building  up 

Of  Clain-aux,  which  your  father  bought  because 

Clairvaux  he  found  it,  and  so  left  to  you, 

Not  a  gilt  gingerbread  big  baby-house  ! 

True,  we  could  somehow  shake  head  and  shut  eye 

To  what  was  past  prevention  on  our  part  — 

This  reprehensible  illicit  bond : 

We,  in  a  manner,  winking,  watched  consort 


39^         RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Our  modest  %Yell-conducted  pious  son 
With  Delilah  :    we  thought  the  smoking  flax 
Would  smoulder  soon  awa}^  and  end  in  snuff! 
Is  spark  to  strengthen,  prove  consuming  fire  ? 
No  lawful  family  calls  Clairvaux  '  home  '  — 
Vv'hy  play  the  fool  of  Scripture  that  the  voice 
Admonished  '  Whose  shall  be  those  things  to-night, 
Provided  for  thy  morning  jollity  ? ' 
To  take  one  specimen  of  pure  caprice 
Out  of  the  heap  conspicuous  in  this  plan,  — 
Puzzle  of  change,  I  call  it,  —  titled  big 
'Clairvaux  Restored:'  v/hat  means  this  Belvedere? 
This  Tower,  stuck  like  a  fools'-cap  on  the   roof — 
Do   you  intend  to  soar  to  heaven  from  thence  ? 
Tower,  truly !     Better  had  you  planted  turf  — 
More  fitly  would  you  dig  yourself  a  hole 
Beneath  it,  for  the  final  journey's  help  ! 
O  we  poor  parents  —  could  we  prophesy !  " 

Leonce  was  found  affectionate  enough 

To  man,  to  woman,  child,  bird,  beast,  alike ; 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  397 

But  all  affection,  all  one  fire  of  heart 

Flaming  toward  Madame-mother.     Had  she  posed 

The  question  plainly  at  the  outset,  "  Choose  ! 

Cut  clean  in  half  your  all-the-world  of  love, 

The  mother  and  the  mistress  :    then  resolve, 

Take  me  or  take  her,  throw  away  the  one  !  "  — 

He  might  have  hiade  the  choice  and  marred  my  tale. 

But,  much  I  apprehend,  the  problem  put 

Was,  "  Keep  both  halves,  yet  do  no  detriment 

To  either  !     Prize  each  opposite  in  turn  !  " 

Hence,  while  he  prized  at  worth  the  Clairvaux-life 

With  all  its  tolerated  naughtiness, 

He,  visiting  in  fancy  Quai  Rousseau, 

Saw,  cornered  in  the  cosiest  nook  of  all 

That  range  of  rooms  through  number  Thirty-three, 

The  lady-mother  bent  o'er  her  Beziqiie ; 

While  Monsieur  Cure  This,  and  Sister  That,  — 

Superior  of  no  matter  what  good  House  — 

Did  duty  for  Duke  Hertford  and  Dumas, 

Na}',  —  at  his  mother's  age,  —  for  Clara's  self. 

At  Quai  Rousseau,  things  comfortable  thus, 


398        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Why  should  poor  Clairvaux  be  so  troublesome  ? 
She  played  at  cards,  he  built  a  Belvedere. 
But  here's  the  difference  :    she  had  reached  the  Towers 
And  there  took  pastime:    he  was  still  on  Turf  — 
Though  fully  minded  that,  when  once  he  marched, 
No  sportive  fancy  should  distract  him  more. 

In  brief,  the  man  was  angry  with  himself. 

With  her,  with  all  the  world  and  much  beside : 

And  so  the  unseemly  words  were  interchanged 

Which  crystallize  what  else  evaporates, 

And  make  mere  misty  petulance  grow  hard 

And  sharp  inside  each  softness,  heart  and  soul. 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  flung  at  last 

Out  of  doors,  fever-flushed  :  and  there  the  Seine 

Rolled  at  his  feet,  obsequious  remedy 

For  fever,  in  a  cold  autumnal  flow. 

"  Go  and  be  rid  of  memory  in  a  bath  1  " 

Craftily  whispered  Who  besets  the  ear 

On  such  occasions. 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  399 

Done  as  soon  as  dreamed. 
Back  shivers  poor  Leonce  to  bed  —  where  else  ? 
And  there  he  lies  a  month  'twixt  life  and  death, 
Raving.     "  Remorse  of  conscience  !  "  friends  opine. 
"  Sirs,  it  may  partly  prove  so,"  represents 
Beaumont  —  (the  family  physician,  he 
WTiom  last  year's  Commune  murdered,  do  you  mind  ?  ) 
Beaumont  reports  "  There  is  some  active  cause, 
More  than  mere  pungency  of  quarrel  past,  — 
Cause  that  keeps  adding  other  food  to  fire. 
I  hear  the  words  and  know  the  signs,  I  say  ! 
Dear  Madame,  you  have  read  the  Book  of  Saints, 
How  Antony  was  tempted  ?     As  for  me, 
Poor   heathen,   'tis  by  pictures   I   am  taught 
I  say  then,  I  see  standing  here,  —  between 
]\Ie  and  my  patient,  and  that  crucifix 
You  very  properly  would  inteipose,  — 
A  certain  woman-shape,  one  white  appeal, 
'Will  you  leave  me,  then,  me,  me,  me  for  her?' 
Since  cold  Seine  could  not  quench  this  flame,  since 
flare 


I 


4-00        RED  COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Of  fever  does  not  redden  it  away,  — 
Be  rational,  indulgent,  mute  —  should  chance 
Come  to  the   rescue  —  Providence,  I  mean  — 
The  while  I  blister  and  phlebotomize  !  " 

Well,  somehow  rescued  by  whatever  powder, 

At  month's  end,  back  again  conveyed  himself 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda,  worn  to  rags, 

Na}^,  tinder  :    stuff  irreparably  spoiled. 

Though   kindly  hand  should  stitch  and  patch  its  best 

Clairvaux  in  Autumn  is   restorative. 

A  friend  stitched   on,  patched  ever.     All  the  same, 

Clairvaux  looked  grayer  than  a  month   ago. 

Unglossed  was  shrubbery,  unglorified 

Each  copse,  so  ^vealthy  once ;    the  garden-plots, 

The  orchard-walks,  showed  dearth  and  dreariness. 

The   sea  lay  out  at  distance  crammed  by  cloud 

Into  a  leaden  wedge  ;    and  sorrowful 

Sulked  field  and  pasture  with  persistent  rain. 

Nobody  came  so  far  from  Paris  now  : 

Friends  did  their  dutv  bv  an  invalid 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  4°! 

Whose  convalescence  claimed  entire  repose. 
Only  a  single  ministrant  was  stanch 
At  quiet  reparation  of  the  stuff  — 
Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda,  worn  to  rags  : 
But  she  was  Clara  and  the  world  beside. 

Another  month,  the  year  packed  up  his  plagues 

And  sullenly  departed,  peddler-like. 

As  apprehensive  old-world  ware  might  show 

To  disadvantage  when  the   new-comer. 

Merchant  of  novelties,  young  'Sixt}'-eight, 

With  brand-new  bargains,  whistled  o'er  the  lea. 

Things  brightened  somewhat  o'er  the  Christmas  hearth, 

As  Clara  plied  assiduously  her  task. 

"  Words  are  but  words  and  wind.     Why  let  the  wind 
Sing  in  your  ear,  bite,  sounding,   to  your  brain  ? 
Old  folk  and  young  folk,  still   at  odds,   of  course  ! 
Kg^  quarrels  because  Spring  puts  forth  a  leaf 
While  Winter  has  a  mind  that  boughs  stay  bare  ; 
Or  rather  —  worse  than  quarrel  —  age  descries 


402        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Propriety  in  preaching  life  tu  death. 

*  Enjoy  nor  youth,  nor  Clairvaux,  nor  poor  me  ? ' 

Dear  Madame,  you  enjoy  your  age, '  tis  thought ! 

Your  number  Thirty-three  on  Quai  Rousseau 

Cost  fifty  times  the  price  of  Clair\-aux,  tipped 

Even  with  our  prodigious  Belvedere  ; 

You  entertain  the  Cure,  —  we,  Dumas  : 

We  play  charades,  while   you  prefer  Bezique: 

Do  lead  your  own  life  and  let  ours  alone  ! 

Cross    Old    Year    shall    have    done    his    worst,    my 

friend  ! 
Here  comes  gay  New  Year  with  a  gift,  no  doubt ! 
Look  up  and  let  in  light  that  longs  to  shine  — 
One  flash  of  light,  and  where  will  darkness  hide  ? 
Your  cold  makes  me  too  cold,  love  !     Keep  me  warm  !  " 

WTiereat  Leonce  Miranda  raised  his  head 
From  his  two  white  thin  hands,  and  forced  a  smile. 
And  spoke :  "  I  do  look  up,  and  see  your  light 
i\bove  me  !     Let  New  Year  contribute  warmth  — 
I  shall  refuse  no  fuel  that  may  blaze." 


OR,    TURF  AND   TOWERS.  403 

Nor  did  he.      Three  days  after,  just  a  spaik 
From  Paris,  answered  by  a  snap  at  Caen 
Or  vdiitlier  reached  the  telegraphic  wire: 
"  Quickly  to  Paris  !      On  arrival,  learn 
Why  you  are  wanted  !  "      Curt  and  critical ! 

Off    starts  Leonce,  one  fear  from  head  to  foot ; 
Caen,  Rouen,  Paris,  as  the  railway  helps  ; 
Then  come  the  Quai  and  Number  Thirty-three. 
"  What  is  the  matter,  concierge  ?  "  —  a  grimace  ! 
He  mounts  the  staircase,  makes  for  the  main  seat 
Of    dreadful  mystery  which  draws  him  there  — 
Bursts  in  upon  a  bedroom  known  too  well  — 
There  lies  all  left  now  of   the  mother  once. 
Tapers  define  the  stretch  of   rigid  white, 
Nor  want  there  ghastly  velvets  of   the  grave. 
A  blackness  sits  on  either  side  at  watch. 
Sisters,  good  souls  but  frightful  all  the  same. 
Silent :     a  priest  is  spokesman  for  his  corpse. 
"  Dead,  through  Leonce  Miranda !    stricken  down 
Without  a  minute's  warning,  yesterday  ! 


404        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY: 

What  did  she  say  to  you,  and  you  to  her, 

Two  months  ago  ?      This  is  the  consequence  ! 

The  doctors  have  their  name  for  the  disease  ; 

I,  you,  and  God  say  —  heart-break,  nothing  more  ! ' 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda,  like  a  stone 

Fell  at  the  bedfoot  and  found  respite  so, 

While  the  priest  went  to  tell  the  company. 

What  follows  you  are  free  to  disbelieve. 

It  may  be  true  or  false  that  this  good  priest 

Had  taken  his  instructions,  —  who  shall  blame  ?  — 

From  quite  another  quarter  than,  perchance. 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  might  suppose 

Would  offer  solr.:e  in  such  pressing  need. 

All  he  remembered  of    his  kith  and  kin 

Was,  they  were  worthily  his  substitutes 

In  commerce,  did  their  work  and  drew  their  pay. 

But  they  remembered,  in  addition,  this  — 

They  fairly  might  expect  inheritance, 

As  nearest  kin,  called  Family  by  law 

And  gospel  both.      Now,  since  Miranda's  life 

Showed  nothing  like  abatement  of   distaste 


OR,    TURJ^  AND    TOWERS.  405 

For  conjugality,  but  preference 

Continued  and  confirmed  of   that  smooth  chain 

Which  slips  and  leaves  no  knot  behind,  no  heir  — 

Presumption  was,  the  man,  become  mature. 

Would  at  a  calculable  day,  discard 

His  old  and  outworn  .  .  what  we  blush  to  name, 

And  make  society  the   just    amends  ; 

Scarce  by  a  new  attachment — Heaven  forbid! 

Still  less  by  lawful  marriage  :    that's  reserved 

For  those  who  make  a  proper  choice  at  first  — 

Not  try  both  courses,  and  would  grasp  in  age 

The  very  treasure  youth  preferred  to   spurn  ! 

No  !    putting  decently  such  thought  aside, 

The  penitent  must  rather  give  his  powers 

To  such  a  reparation  of    the  past 

As,  edifying  kindred,  makes  them  rich. 

Now,  how  would  it  enrich  prospectively 

The  Cousins,  if  he  lavished  such  expense 

On  Clairvaux  ?  —  pretty  as  a  toy,  but  then 

As  toy,  so  much  productive,  and  no  more  ! 

If  all  the  outcome  of  the  goldsmith's  shop 


4o6        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

Went  to  gild  Clairv^aux,  where  remained  the  funds 

For  Cousinry  to  spread  out  lap  and  take  ? 

This  must  be  thought  of   and  provided  for. 

I  give  it  you  as  mere  conjecture,  mind  ! 

To  help  explain  the  wholesome  unannounced 

Intelligence,   the  shock  that  startled  guilt. 

The  scenic  show,  much  yellow,  black  and  white 

By  taper-shine,  the  nurts  —  portentous  pair, 

And,  more  than  all,  the  priest's  admonishment  — 

"  No  flattery  of   self  !      You  murdered  her  ! 

The  gray  lips,  silent  now,  reprove  by  mine. 

You  wasted  all  your  living,  rioted 

In  harlotr}'  —  she  warned  and  I  repeat ! 

No  warning  had  she,  for  she  needed  none  : 

If    this  should  be  the  last  yourself   receive?" 

Done  for  the  best,  no  doubt,  though  clumsilj^, — 

Such,  and  so  startling,  the  reception  here. 

You  hardly  wonder  if  down  fell  at  once 

The  tawdry  tent,  pictorial,  musical, 

Poetical,  besprent  with  hearts  and  darts; 

Its  cobweb-work,  betinselled  stitchery, 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  407 

Lay  dust  about  our  sleeiDcr  on  the  turf, 

And  showed  an  outer  wall  distinct  and  dread. 

Senseless  he  fell,  and  long  he  lay,  and  much 
Seemed  salutary  in  his  punishment 
To  planners  and  performers  of   the  piece. 
When  pain  ends,  pardon  prompt  may  operate. 
There  was  a  good  attendance  close  at  hand, 
Waiting  the  issue  in  the  great  saloon. 
Cousins  with  consolation  and  advice. 

All  things  thus  happily  performed  to  point. 

No  wonder  at  success  commensurate. 

Once  swooning  stopped,  once  anguish  subsequent 

Raved  out,  —  a  sudden  resolution  chilled 

His  blood  and  changed  his  swimming  eyes  to  stone, 

As  the  poor  fellow  raised  himself    upright, 

Collected  strength,  looked,  once  toi   all,  his  look. 

Then,  turning,  put  officious  help  aside. 

And  passed  from  out  the  chamber.     "  For  affairs  !  " 

So  he  announced  himself   to  the  saloon  : 


4o8        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

"  We  owe  a  duty  to  the  living  too  !  "  — 
Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  tried  to  smile. 

How  did  the  hearts  of    Cousinry  rejoice 
At  their  stray  sheep  returning  thus  to  fold, 
As,  with  a  dignity,  precision,  sense, 
All  unsuspected  in  the  man  before, 
Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  made  minute 
Detail  of    his  intended  scheme  of    life 
Thenceforward  and  forever.   "Vanity 
Was  ended  :    its  redemption  must  begin  — 
And,  certain,  would  continue  ;    but  since  life 
Was  awfully  uncertain  —  witness  here  !  — 
Behooved  him  lose  no  moment,  but  discharge 
Immediate  burthen  of  the  world's  affairs 
On  backs  that  kindly  volunteered  to  crouch. 
Cousins,  with  easier  conscience,  blamelessly 
Might  cany  on  the  goldsmith's  trade,  in  brief, 
Uninterfered  with  by  its  lord  who  late 
Was  used  to  supervise  and  take  due  titht. 
A  stipend  now  sufficed  his  natural  need  : 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  409 

Themselves  should  fix  what  sum  allows  man  live. 
But  half    a  dozen  words  concisely  plain 
Might,  first  of   all,  make  sure  that,  on  demise, 
Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda's  property 
Passed  by  bequeathment,  every  particle. 
To  the  right  heirs,  the  cousins  of    his  heart. 
As  for  that  woman  —  they  would  understand  ! 
This  was  a  step  would  take  her  by  surprise  ! 
It  were  too  cruel  did  he  snatch  away 
Decent  subsistence.      She  was  young,  and  fair. 
And  .  .  and  attractive  !      Means  must  be  supplied 
To  save  her  from  herself,  and  from  the  world. 
And  .  .  from  anxieties,  might  haunt  him  else 
When  he  were  fain  have  other  thoughts  in  mind." 

It  was  a  sight  to  melt  a  stone,  that  thaw 
Of    rigid    disapproval  into  dew 
Of    sympathy,  as  each  extended  palm 
Of    cousin  hasted  to  enclose  those  five 
Cold  fingers,  tendered  so  mistrustfully, 
Despairingly  of   condonation  now  ! 


4IO        RED   COTTON  NIGIIT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

One  would  have  thought,  —  at  every  fervent  shake, 

In  re-assurance  of    those  timid  tips,  — 

The  penitent  had  squeezed,  considerate, 

By  way  of  fee  into  physician's  hand 

For  physicking  his  soul,  some  diamond  knob. 

And  now  let  pass  a  week.      Once  more  behold 
The  same  assemblage  in  the  same  saloon  — 
Waiting  the  entry  of    protagonist 
Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda.     "  Just  a  week 
Since  the  death-day,  —  was  ever  man  transformed 
Like  this  man  ?  "  questioned  cousin  of    his  mate. 

Last  seal  to  the  repentance  had  been  set 
Three  days  before,  at  Sceaux  in  neighborhood 
Of    Paris,  where  they  laid  with  funeral  pomp 
Mother  by  father.      Let  me  spare  the  rest : 
Hov/  the  poor  fellow,  in  his  misery, 
Buried  hot  face  and  bosom,  where  heaped  snow 
Offered  assistance,  at  the  grave's  black  edge. 
And  there  lay,  till  uprooted  by  main  force 


\ 


OA',    -JURF  AND    TOWERS.  411 

From  where  he  prayed  to  grow  and  ne'er  again 

Walk  earth  unworthily  as  heretofore. 

It  is  not  with  impunity    priests  teach 

The  doctrine  he  was  dosed  with  from  his  youth  — 

"  Pain  to  the  body  —  profit  to  the  soul  ; 

Corporeal  pleasure  —  so  much  woe  to  pay 

When  disembodied  spirit  gives  accoimt." 

However,  woe  had  done  its  worst,  this  time. 

Three  days  allow  subsidence  of    much  grief. 

Already,  regular  and  equable, 

Forward  went  purpose  to  effect.      At  once 

The  testament  was  written,  signed  and  sealed. 

Disposure  of    the  commerce  —  that  took  time, 

And  would  not  suffer  by  a  week's  delay  ; 

But  the  immediate,  the  imperious  need, 

The  call  demanding  of   the  Cousinry 

Co-operation,  what  convened  them  thus. 

Was  —  how  and  when  should  deputation  march 

To  Coliseum  Street,  the  old  abode 

Of  wickedness,  and  there  acquaint  —  oh,  shame ! 


412        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Her,  its  old  inmate,  who  had  followed  up 
And  lay  in  wait  in  the  old  haunt  for  prey  — 
That  they  had  rescued,  they  possessed  Leonce, 
Whose  loathing  at  re-capture  equalled  theirs  — 
Ujobraid  that   sinner  with  her  sinfulness, 
Impart  the  fellow-sinner's  firm  resolve 
Never  to  set  eyes  on  her  face  again : 
Then,  after  stipulations  strict  but  just, 
Hand  her  the  first  instalment,  —  moderate 
Enough,  no  question,  —  of  her  salar}^ : 
Admonish  for  the  future,  and  so  end.  — 
All  which  good  purposes,  decided  on 
Sufficiently,  were  waiting  full  effect 
WTien  presently  the  culprit  should  appear. 

Somehow  appearance  was  delayed  too  long; 

Chatting  and  chirping  sunk  unconsciously 

To  silence,  nay,  uneasiness  at  length 

Alarm,  till  —  any  thing  for  certitude!  — 

A  peeper  was  commissioned  to  explore. 

At  keyhole,  what  the  laggard's  task  might  be  — 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  4 '3 

What  caused  so  palpable  a  disrespect ! 

Back  came  the  tiptoe  cousin  from  his  quest. 
"  Monsieur  Leonce  was  busy,"  he  believed, 
"  Contemplating  —  those  love-letters,  perhaps, 
He  always  carried,  as  if  precious  stones, 
About  with  him.      He  read,  one  after  one, 
Some  sort  of  letters.      But  his  back  was  turned. 
The  empty  coffer  open  at  his  side. 
He  leant  on  elbow  by  the  mantle-piece 
Before  the  hearth-fire  ;    big  and  blazing  too."' 

"Better  he  shovelled  them  all  in  at  once, 
And  burned  the  rubbish !  "  was  a  cousin's  quip, 
Warming  his  own  hands  at  the  fire  the  while. 
I  told  you,  snow  had  fallen  outside,  I  think. 

When  suddenly  a  cry,  a  host  of  cries, 
Screams,  hubbub  and  confusion  thrilled  the  room. 
All  by  a  common  impulse  rushed  thence,  reached 
The  late  death-chamber,  tricked   with  trappings  still, 


414        !  LD  COTTON  NTGHT-CAP  COUiVTRY ; 

Skulls,  cross-bones,  and  such  moral  broidery. 
Madame  Muhlhausen  might  have  played  the  witch, 
Dropped  down  the  chimney,  and  appalled  Leonce 
By  some  proposal,  "  Parting  touch  of  hand !  " 
If  she  but  touched  his  foolish  hand,  you  know ! 

Something  had  happened  quite  contrariwise. 
Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda,  one  by  one, 
Had  read  the  letters  and  the  love  they  held. 
And  that  task  finished,  had  required  his  sou! 
To  answer  frankly  what  the  prospect  seemed 
Of  his  own  love's  departure  —  pledged  to  part  ! 
Then,  answer  being  unmistakable, 
He  had  replaced  the  letters  quietly. 
Shut  coffer,  and  so,  grasping  either  side 
By  its  convenient  handle,  plunged  the  whole  — 
Letters  and  coffer  and  both  hands  to  boot, 
Into  the  burning  grate  and  held  them  there. 
"  Burn,  burn  and  purify  my  past !  "  said  he, 
Calmly,  as  if  he  felt  no  pain  at  all. 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  415 

111  vain  they  pulled  him  from  the  torture  place : 

The  strong  man,  with  the  soul  of  tenfold  strength, 

Broke  from  their  clutch  :   and  there  again  smiled  he, 

The  miserable  hands  re-bathed  in  fire  — 

Constant  to  that  ejaculation,  "  Burn, 

Burn,  purify !  "     And  when,  combining  force, 

They  fairly  dragged  the  victim   out  of  reach 

Of  further  harm,  he  had  no  hands  to  hurt  — 

Two  horrible  remains  of  right  and  left, 

"Whereof  the  bones,  phalanges  formerly. 

Carbonized,  were  still  crackling  with  the  flame," 

Said  Beaumont.     And  he  fought  them  all  the  while  : 

"  Why  am   I  hindered  when  I  would  be  pure  ? 

Why  leave  the  sacrifice  still  incomplete  ? 

She  holds  me,  I  must  have  more  hands  to  burn  !  " 

They  were  the  stronger,  though,  and  bound  him  fast. 

Beaumont  was  in  attendance  presently. 
"What  did  I  tell  you?     Preachment  to  the  deaf! 
I  wish  he  had  been  deafer  when  they  preached, 
Those  priests!     But  wait  till  next  Republic  comes!" 


4l6        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

As  for  Leonce,  a  single  sentiment 

Possessed  his  soul  and  occupied  his  tongue  — 

Absolute  satisfaction  at  the  deed. 

Never  he  varied,  'tis  observable, 

Nor  in  the  stage  of  agonies  (which  proved 

Absent  without  leave,  —  science  seemed  to  think) 

Nor  yet  in  those  three  months'  febricity 

Which  followed,  —  never  did  he  var}-  tale  — 

Remaining  happy  beyond  utterance. 

"  Ineffable  beatitude  "  —  I  quote 

The  words,  I  cannot  give  the  smile  —  "such  bliss 

Abolished  pain !     Pain  might  or  might  not  be  : 

He  felt  in  heaven,  where  flesh  desists  to  fret. 

Purified  now  and  henceforth,  all  the  past 

Reduced  to  ashes  with  the  flesh  defiled ! 

Why  all  those  anxious  faces  round  his  bed? 

What  was  to  pity  in  their  patient,  pray, 

When  doctor  came  and  went,  and  Cousins  watched  ? 

—  Kindness,  but  in  pure  waste ! "  he  said  and  smiled. 

And  if  a  trouble  would  at  times  disturb 

The  ambrosial  mood,  it  came  from  other  source 


I 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  4^7 

Than  the  corporeal  transitory  pang. 

"  If  sacrifice  be  incomplete  !  "  cried  he  — 

"  If  ashes  have  not  sunk  reduced  to  dust, 

To  nullity  !     If  atoms  coalesce 

Till  something  grow,  grow,  get  to  be  a  shape 

I  hate,  I  hoped  to  burn  away  from  me  ! 

She  is  my  body,  she  and  I  are  one, 

Yet,  all  the  same,  there,  there  at  bed-foot  stands 

The  woman  wound  about  my  flesh  and  blood, 

There,  the  arms  open,  the  more  wonderful, 

The  whiter  for  the  burning  .  .  Vanish  thou ! 

Avaunt,  fiend's  self  found  in   the  form  I  wore  !  " 

"  Whereat,"  said  Beaumont,  "  since  his  hands  were  gone, 

The  patient  in  a  frenzy  kicked  and  kicked 

To  keep  off  some  imagined  visitant. 

So  will  it  prove  as  long  as  priests  may  preach 

Spiritual  terrors !  "  groaned  the  evidence 

Of  Beaumont  that  his  patient  was  stark  mad  — 

Produced  in  time  and   place :    of  which  anon. 

"  Mad,   or  why  thus  insensible  to  pain  ? 


4i8        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Body  and  soul  are  one  thing,  with  two  names 
For  more  or  less  elaborated  stu|[li' 

I  Such  is  the  new  Religio  Medici. 
Though  antiquated   faith  held  otherwise, 
Explained  that  body  is  not  soul,  but  just 
Soul's  servant :   that,  if  soul  be  satisfied, 
Possess  already  joy  or  pain  enough. 
It  uses  to  ignore,  as  master  may, 
What  increase,  joy  or  pain,  its  servant  brings  — 
Superfluous  contribution :    soul,  once  served, 
Has  nought  to  do  with  body's  service  more. 
Each,  speculated  on  exclusively. 
As  if  its  office  were  the  only  one, 
Body  or  soul,  shows  either,  service  paid 
In  joy  and  pain,  that's  blind  and  objectless  — 
A  servant  toiling  for  no  master's  good  — 
Or  else  shows  good  received  and  put  to  use, 
As  if  within  soul's  self  grew  joy  and  pain, 
Nor  needed  body  for  a  ministrant. 
I  note  these  old  unscientific  ways  : 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  41  q 

Poor  Beaumont  cannot:   for  the  Commune  ruled 
Next  year,  and  ere  they  shot  his  priests,  shot  him. 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  raved  himself 

To  rest ;    lay  three  long  months  in  bliss  or  bale, 

Inactive,  anyhow :    more  need  that  heirs, 

His  natural  protectors,  should  assume 

The  management,  bestir  their  cousinship. 

And  carry  out  that  purpose  of  reform 

Such  tragic  work  now  made  imperative. 

A  deputation,  with  austerity, 

Nay,  sternness,  bore  her  sentence  to  the  field 

Aforesaid,  —  she  at  watch  for  turn  of  wheel 

And  fortune's  favor.  Street  —  you  know  the  name. 

A  certain  roughness  seemed  appropriate  :    "  You  — 

Steiner,  Muhlhausen,  whatsoe'er  your  name, 

Cause  whole  and  sole  of   this  catastrophe  !  "  — 

And  so  forth,  introduced  the  embassage. 

"  Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  was  divorced 
Once  and  forever  from  his  —  ugly  word. 


42 o        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

Himself   had  gone  for  good  to  Portugal : 
They  came  empowered  to  act  and  stipulate. 
Hold  !    no  discussion  !      Terms  were  settled  now  : 
So  much  of   present  and  prospective  pay, 
But  also  —  good  engagement  in  plain  terms 
She  never  seek  renewal  of   the  past ! " 

This  little  harmless  tale  produced  effect. 

Madame  Muhlhausen  owned  her  sentence   just, 

Its  execution  gentle.      "  Stern  their  phrase, 

These  kinsfolk  with  a  right  she  recognized  — 

But  kind  its  import  probabl}^,  which  now 

Her  agitation,  her  bewilderment. 

Rendered  too  hard  to  understand,  perhaps. 

Let  them  accord  the  natural  delay, 

And  she  would  ponder  and  decide.      Meantime, 

So  far  was  she  from  wish  to  follow  friend 

Who    fled    her,    that    she    would    not    budge    from 

place  — 
Now  that  her  friend  was  fled  to  Portugal, — 
Never  !      She  leave  this  Coliseum   Street  ? 


OR,    TURF  AND   TOWERS.  421 

No,  not  a  footstep ! "  she  assured  them. 

So  — 
They  saw  they  might  have  left  that  tale  untold 
When,  after  some  weeks  more  were  gone  to  waste, 
Recovery  seemed  incontestable, 
And  the  poor  mutilated  figure,  once 
The  gay  and  glancing  fortunate  young  spark, 
Miranda,  humble  and  obedient  took 
The  doctor's  counsel,  issued  sad  and  slow 
From  precincts  of   the  sick-room,  tottered  down, 
And  out,   and  into  carriage  for  fresh  air, 
And  so  drove  straight  to  Coliseum  Street, 
And  tottered  upstairs,  knocked,  and  in  a  trice 
Was  clasped  in  the  embrace  of  whom  you  know  — 
W^ith  much  asseveration,  I  omit, 
Of   constancy  henceforth  till  life   should  end. 
When   all    this   happened,  —  "  What   reward,"    cried 

she, 
"  For  judging  her  Miranda  by  herself ! 
For  never  having  entertained  a  thought 


b 


422        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Of  breaking  promise,  leaving  home  forsooth, 

To  follow  who  was  fled  to  Portugal ! 

As  if    she  thought   they  spoke  a  word  of    truth  ! 

She  knew  what  love  was,  knew  that  he  loved  her  j 

The  Cousinry  knew  nothing  of   the  kind." 

I  will  not  scandalize  you  and  recount 

How  matters  made  the  morning  pass  away. 

Not  one  reproach,  not  one  acknowledgment, 

One  explanation  :    all    was  understood ! 

Matters  at  end,  the  home-uneasiness 

Cousins  were  feeling  at  this  jaunt  prolonged 

Was  ended  also  by  the  entry  of  — 

Not  simply  him  whose  exit  had  been  made 

By  mild  command  of   doctor  "  Out  with  you ! 

I  warrant  we  receive  another  man  !  " 

But  —  would  that  I  could  say,  the  married  pair  1 

And,  quite  another  man  assuredly, 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  took  on  him 

Forthwith  to  bid  the  trio,  priest  and  nuns, 

Constant  in  their  attendance  all  this  while, 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  423 

Take  his  thanks  and  their  own  departure  too  ; 

Politely  but  emphatically.      Next, 

The  Cousins  were  dismissed :    "  No  protest,  pray ! 

Whatever  I  engaged  to  do  is  done, 

Or  shall  be  —  I  but  follow  3-our  advice: 

Love  I  abjure  :    the  lady,  you  behold. 

Is  changed  as  I  myself  ;   her  sex  is  changed : 

This  is  my  Brother  —  He  will  tend  me  now. 

Be  all  my  world  henceforth  as  brother  should. 

Gentlemen,  of   a  kinship  I  revere. 

Your  interest  in  trade  is  laudable  ; 

I  pui-pose  to  indulge   it :    manage  mine. 

My  goldsmith-business  in  the  Place  Vendome, 

Wholly  —  through  purchase  at  the  price  adjudged 

By  experts  I  shall  have  assistance  from. 

If,  in  conformity  with  sage  advice, 

I  leave   a  busy  world  of  interests 

I  own  myself   unfit  for  —  yours  the  care 

That  any  world  of   other  aims,  wherein 

I  hope  to  dwell,  be  easy  of  access 

Through  ministration  of   the  moneys  due, 


424        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

As  we  determine,  with  all  proper  speed, 
Since  I  leave  Paris  to  repair  my  health. 
Say  farewell  to  our  Cousins,  Brother  mine  ! " 

And,  all  submissiveness,  as  brother  might, 
The  lady  courtesied  gracefully,  and  dropt 
More  than  mere  courtesy,  a  concluding  phrase 
So  silver-soft,  yet  penetrative  too, 
That  none  of  it  escaped  the  favored  ears : 
"  Had  I  but  credited  one  syllable, 
I  should  to-day  be  lying  stretched  on  straw, 
The  produce  of  your  miserable  rente! 
Whereas,  I  hold  him  —  do  you  comprehend  ? " 
Cousin  regarded  cousin,  turned  up  eye, 
And  took  departure,  as  our  Tuscans  laugh. 
Each  with  his  added  palm-breadth  of  long  nose, — 
Curtailed  but  imperceptibly,  next  week, 
Wlien  transfer  was  accomplished,  and  the  trade 
In  Paris  did  indeed  become  their  own, 
But  bought  by  them  and  sold  by  him  on  terms 
'Twixt  man  and  man,  —  might  serve   'twixt  wolf  and 
wolf. 


C/v\    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  425 

Substitute     "  bit     and     clawed  "     for  "  signed    and 

sealed  "  — 
Our  ordinar}-  business-terms,  in  short. 
Another  week,  and  Clair\'aux  broke  in  bloom 
At  end  of  April,  to  receive  again 
Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda,  gentleman, 
Ex-jeweller  and  goldsmith  :    never  more,  — 
According  to  the  purpose  he  professed,  — 
To  quit  this  paradise,  his  propert}-, 
This  Clara,  his  companion  :    so  it  proved. 

The  Cousins,  each  with  elongated  nose, 
Discussed  their  bargain,  reconciled  them  soon 
To  hard  necessit)^,  disbursed  the  cash, 
And  hastened  to  subjoin,  wherever  type 
Proclaimed  "  Miranda  "  to  the  public,  "  Called 
Now  Firm-Miranda."     There,  a  colony. 
They  flourish  underneath  the  name  that  still 
Maintains  the  old  repute,  I  understand. 
They  built  their  Clairvaux,  dream-Chateau,  in  Spair 
Perhaps  —  but  Place  VendOme  is  waking  worth: 


426        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

Oh,  they  lost  little  !  —  only,  man  and  man 

Hardly  conclude  transactions  of  the  kind 

As  cousin  should  with  cousin,  —  cousins  think. 

For  the  rest,  all  was  honorably  done, 

So,  ere  buds  break  to  blossom,  let  us  breathe  ! 

Never  suppose  there  was  one  particle 

Of  recrudescence  —  wound,  half -healed  before, 

Set  freshly  ruiming  —  sin,  repressed  as  such. 

New  loosened  as  necessity  of  life  ! 

In  all  this  revocation  and  resolve. 

Far  be  sin's  self-indulgence  from  your  thought ! 

The  man  had  simply  made  discover)^, 

By  process  I  respect  if  not  admire, 

That  what  was,  was:  —  that  turf,  his  feet  had  touched. 

Felt  solid  just  as  much  as  yonder  wall 

He  saw  with  eyes,  but  did  not  stand  upon. 

And  could  not,  if  he  would,  reach  in  a  leap. 

PeQple_had  told  him  flowery  turf  was  false 

To  footstep,  tired  the  traveller  soon,  beside  : 

That  was  untrue.     Thev  told  him  "  One  fair  stride 


Plants  on  safe  platform,  and  secures  man  rest" 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  427 

That  was  untrue.     Some  varied  the  advice  : 

"  Neither  was  solid,  towers  no  more  than  turf :  " 

Double  assertion,  therefore  twice  as  false. 

''I  like  these  amateurs" — our  friend   had  laughed 

Could  he   turn  what  he   felt  to  what  he   thought, 

And,  that  again,  to  what  he  put  in  words  : 

"  I  like  their  pretty  trial,  proof  of  paste 

Or  precious  stone,  by  delicate  approach 

Of  eye  askance,  fine  feel  of  finger-tip, 

Or  touch  of  tongue  inquisitive  for  cold. 

I  tried  my  jewels  in  a  crucible  : 

Fierce    fire   has    felt   them,    licked    them,    leit   them 

sound. 
Don't  tell  me  that  my  earthly  love  is  sham, 
My  heavenly  fear  a  clever  counterfeit ! 
Each  may  oppose  each^yet  be  true  alike  !  " 


To  build  up,  independent  of  the  towers, 
A  durable  pavilion  o'er  the   turf. 
Had  issued  in  disaster.     "  What  remained 
Except,  by  tunnel,  or  else  gallery. 


4.2 S        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

To  keep  communication  'twixt  the  two, 
Unite  the  opposites,  both  near  and  far, 
And  never  try  complete  abandonment 
Of  one  or  other  ?  "    so  he  thought,   not  said. 

And  to  such  engineering  feat,  I  say, 
Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  saw  the  means 
Precisely  in  this   revocation  '  prompt 
Of  just  those   benefits   of  worldly  wealth 
Conferred  upon  his  Cousinr}'  —  all  but ! 

This  Clairvaux  —  you  would  know,  were  you  at  top 

Of  yonder  crowning  grace,  its  Belvedere  — 

Is  situate  in  one  angle-niche  of  three. 

At  equidistance  from  Saint- Rambert  —  there 

Behind  you,  and  The  Ravissante,  beside  — 

There:    steeple,  steeple,  and  this  Clairvaux-top, 

(A  sort  of  steeple)  constitute  a  trine, 

With  not  a  tenement  to  break  each  side, 

Two  miles  or  so  in  length,  if  eye  can  judge. 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  429 

Now,  this  is  native  land  of  miracle. 

O  why,  why,  why,  from  all  recorded  time, 

Was  miracle  not  wrought,  but  only  once. 

To  help  whoever  wanted  help  indeed  ? 

If   on  the  day  when  Spring's  green  girlishness 

Grew  nubile,  and  she  trembled  into  May, 

And  our  ^Miranda  climbed  to  clasp  the  Spring 

A-tiptoe  o'er  the  sea,  those  wafts  of  warmth. 

Those  cloudlets  scudding  under  the  bare  blue, 

And  all  that  new  sun,  that  fresh  hope  about 

His  air\-  place  of   observation,  —  friend. 

Feel  with  me  that  if   just  then,  just  for  once. 

Some  angel,  —  such  as  the  authentic  pen 

Yonder  records  a   daily  visitant 

Of   ploi>ghman  Claudeum,  rheatic  in  the  joints, 

And  spinster  Jeanne,  with  megrim  troubled  much, — ■ 

If  such  an  angel,  with  nought  else  to  do. 

Had  taken  station  on  the  pinnacle 

And  simply  said,  "  Leonce,  look  straight  before ! 

Neither  to  the  right  hand  nor  to  left :    for  why  ? 

Being  a  stupid  soul,  you  want  a  guide 


430        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

To  turn  the  goodness  in  you  to  account 

And  make  stupidity  submit  itself. 

Go  to  Saint-Rambert !      Straightway  get  such  guide  ! 

There  stands  a  man  of   men.      You,  jeweller, 

Must  needs  have  heard  how  once  the  biggest  block 

Of   diamond  now  in  Europe  lay  exposed 

Mid  siDCcimens  of   stone  and  earth  and  ore. 

On  huckster's  stall,  —  Navona  names  the  Square, 

And  Rome  the  city  for  the  incident,  — 

Labelled  '  quartz-crystal,  price  one  halfpenny.' 

Haste  and  secure,  that  ha'p'worth,  on  your  life  ! 

That  man  will  read  you  rightly  head  to  foot, 

Mark  the  brown  face  of   you,  the  bushy  beard, 

The  breadth  'twixt  shoulder  blades,  and  through  each 

black 
Castilian  orbit,  see  into  your  soul. 
Talk  to  him  for  five  minutes  —  nonsense,  sense, 
No  matter  what  —  describe  your  horse,  your  hound,  — 
Give  your  opinion  of   the  policy 
Of   Monsieur  Rouher,  —  will  he  succor  Rome? 
Your  estimate  of  what  may  outcome  be 


OR.    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  431 

From  Ecumenical  Assemblage  there ! 

After  which  samples  of    intelligence, 

Rapidly  run  through  those  events  you  call 

Your  past  life,  tell  what  once  you  tried  to  do, 

What  you  intend  on  doing  this  next  May! 

There  he  stands,  reads  an  English  newspaper, 

Stock-still,  and  now,  again  upon  the  move. 

Paces  the  beach  to  taste  the  Spring,  like  you. 

Since  both  are  human  beings  in  God's  eye. 

He  will  have  understood  you,  I  engage. 

Endeavor,  for  your  part,  to  understand 

He  knows  more,  and  loves  better,  than  the  world 

That  never  heard  his  name,   and  never  may. 

He  will  have  recognized,  ere  breath  be  spent 

And  speech  at  end,  how  much  that's  good  in  man. 

And  generous,  and  self-devoting,  makes 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  worth  his  help  ; 

While  sounding  to  the  bottom  ignorance 

Historical  and  philosophical 

And  moral  and  religious,  all  one  couch 

Of   crassitude,  a  portent  of   its  kind. 


432        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Then,  just  as  he  would  pityingly  teach 

Your  body  to  repair  maltreatment,  give 

Advice  that  you  should  make  those  stumps  to  stir 

With  artificial  hands  of   caoutchouc, 

So  would  he  soon  supply  your  crippled  soul 

With  crutches,  from  his  own  intelligence, 

Ablf;  to  help  you  onward  in  the  path 

Of   rectitude  whereto  your  face  is  set, 

And  counsel   justice  —  to  yourself,  the  first, 

To  your  associate,  very  like  a  wife 

Or  something  better, —  to  the  world  at  large, 

Friends,  strangers,  horses,  hounds  and  Cousinry  — 

All  which  amount  of  justice  will  include 

Justice  to  God.      Go  and  consult  his  voice  !  " 

Since  angel  would  not  say  this  simple  truth, 

What  hinders  that  my  heart  relieve  itself, 

O  friend,  who  makest  warm  my  wintiy  world, 

And  wise  my  heaven,  if   there  we  consort  too  ? 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  turned,  alas. 

Or  was  turned,  by  no  angel,  t'other  way, 

And  got  him  guidance  of   The  Ravissante. 


CR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  43: 

Now,  into  the  originals  of   faith, 

Yours,  mine,  Miranda's,  no  inquiry  here, 

Of   faith,  as  apprehended  by  mankind, 

The  causes,  were  they  caught  and  catalogued, 

Would  too  distract,  too  desperately  foil 

Inquirer.      How  may  analyst  reduce 

Quantities  to  exact  their  opposites, 

Value  to  zero,  then  bring  zero  back 

To  value  of   supreme  preponderance  ? 

How  substitute  thing  meant  for  thing  expressed  ? 

Detect  the  wire-thread  through  that  fluffy  silk 

Men  call  their  rope,  their  real  compulsive  power? 

Suppose  effected  such  anatomy. 

And  demonstration  made  of  what  belief 

Has  moved  believer  —  were  the  consequence 

Reward  at  all?     would  each  man  straight  deduce, 

From  proved  reality  of   cause,  effect 

Conformable?     believe  and  unbelieve 

According  to  your  True  thus  disengaged 

From  all  his  heap  of  False  called  reason  first? 


434        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY: 

No :    hand  once  used  to  hold  a  soft  thick  twist, 
Cannot  now  grope  its  way  by  wire  alone  : 
Childhood  may  catch    the    knack,  scarce  Youth,  not 

Age! 
That's  the  reply  rewards  you.      Just  as  well 
Remonstrate  to  yon  peasant  in  the  blouse 
That,  had  he  justified  the  true  intent 
Of  Nature  who  composed  him  thus  and  thus, 
Weakly  or  strongly,  here  he  would  not  stand 
Struggling  with  uncongenial  earth  and  sky, 
But  elsewhere  tread  the  surface  of  the  globe. 
Since  one  meridian  suits  the  faulty  lungs, 
Another  bids  the  sluggish  liver  work. 
"  Here  I  was  born,  for  better  or  for  worse : 
I  did  not  choose  a  climate  for  myself  ; 
Admit,  my  life  were  healthy,  led  elsewhere," 
(He  answers)  "how  am  I  to  migrate,  pray?" 

Therefore  the  course  to  take  is  —  spare  your  pains, 
And  trouble  uselessly  with  discontent 
Nor  soul  nor  body,  by  parading  proof 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  435 

That  neither  haply  had  known  aihncnt,  placed 

Precisely  where  the  circumstance  forbade 

Their  lot  should  fall  to  either  of    the  pair. 

But  tiy  and,  uhat  you  find  wrong,  remedy, 

Accepting  the  conditions :    never  ask 

"  How  came    you  to  be  born  here  with  those  lungs, 

That  liver  ? "      But  bid  asthma  smoke  a  pipe. 

Stramonium,  just  as  if  no  Tropics  were, 

And  ply  with  calomel  the  sluggish   duet. 

Nor  taunt  "The  born  Norwegian  breeds  no  bile!" 

And  as  with  body,  so  proceed  v>'ith  soul  : 

Nor  less  discerningly,  where  faith  you  found, 

However  foolish  and  fantastic,  grudge 

To  play  the  doctor  and  amend  mistake, 

Because  a  wisdom  were  conceivable 

Whence  faith  had  sprung  robust  above  disease. 

Far  beyond  human  help,  that  source  of    things  ! 

Since,  in  the  first  stage,  so  to  speak, — first  stare 

Of  apprehension  at  the  invisible, 

Begins  divergency  of    mind  from  mind, 

Superior  from  inferior :    leave  this  first ! 


436        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Little  you  change  there  !       What  comes  afterward  — 

From  apprehended  thing,  each  inference 

With  practicality  concerning  life, 

This  you  may  test  and  try,  confirm  the  right 

Or  contravene  the  wrong  which  reasons  there. 

The  offspring  of  the  sickly  faith  must  prove 

Sickly  act  also :    stop  a  monster-birth ! 

When  water's  in  the  cup,  and  not  the  cloud, 

Then  is  the  proper  time  for  chemic  test: 

Belief    permits  your  skill  to  operate 

When,  drop  by  drop  condensed  from  misty  heaven, 

'Tis  wrung  out,  lies  a  bowl-full  in  the  fleece. 

How  dew  came  down  to  earth,  let  Gideon  say: 

What  purpose  water  serves,  jour  word  or  two 

May  teach  him,  should  he  fancy  it  lights  fire. 

Concerning,  then,  our  vaporous  Ravissante  — 
How  fable  first  precipitated  faith  — 
Silence  you  get  upon  such  point  from  me. 
But  when    I  see  come  posting  to  the  pair 
At  Clairvaux,  for  the  cure  of  soul-disease, 


OR,    TURF  AND   TOWERS.  437 

This  Father  of   the  Mission,  Parish-priest, 

This  Mother  of  the    Convent,   Nun  I   know  — 

They  practise   in  that  second  stage  of  things  ; 

They  boast  no  fresh  distillery  of   faith ; 

'Tis  dogma  in  the  bottle,  bright  and  old, 

They  bring ;    and  I  pretend  to  pharmacy. 

They  midertake  the  cure  with  all  my  heart! 

He  trusts  them,   and  they  surely  trust  themselves. 

I  ask  no  better.      Never  mind  the  cause. 

Fans  et  origo  of  the   malady. 

Apply  the  drug  with  courage  !       Here's  our  case. 

Monsieur  Leonce  ?>Iiranda  asks  of    God, 

—  May  a  man,  living  in  illicit  tie. 

Continue,  by  connivance  of  the  Church, 

No  matter  what  amends  he  please  to  make 

Short  of  forthwith  relinquishing  the  sin? 

Physicians,  what  do  you  propose  for  cure  ? 

Father  and  Mother  of  The  Ravissante, 

Read  your  own  records,  and  you  find  prescribed 

As  follows,  when  a  couple  out  of    sorts 


I 


438        FED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Pvather  tha^i  gravel}^  suffering,  sought  your  skill 
And  thereby  got  their  health  again.      Perpend! 
Two  and  a  half  good  centuries  ago, 
Luc  de  la  Maison  Rouge,  a  nobleman 
Of  Claise,  (the  river  gives  this  country  name) 
And,  just  as  noblewoman,  Maude  his  wife, 
Having  been  married  many  happy  years 
Spent  in  God's  honor  and  man's  service  too, 
Conceived,  while  yet  in  flower  of  youth  and  hope, 
The  project  of  departing  each  from  each 
Forever,  and  dissolving  marriage-bonds 
That  both  might  enter  a  religious  life. 
Needing,  before  they  came  to  such  resolve, 
Divine  illumination,  —  course  was  clear, — 
They  visited  your  church  in  pilgrimage. 
On  Christmas  morn,  communicating  straight, 
They  heard  three  Masses  proper  for  the  day, 
"  It  is  incredible  with  what  eflect "  — 
Quoth  the  Cistercian  monk  I  copy  from  — 
And,  next  day,  came,  again  communicants, 
Again  heard  Masses  manifold,  but  now 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  439 

With  added  thanks  to  Christ  for  special  grace 

And  consolation  granted  :    in  the  night, 

Had  been  divorce  from  marriage,  manifest 

By  signs  and  tokens.     So,  they  made  great  gifts, 

Left  money  for  more  Masses,  and  returned 

Homeward  rejoicing  —  he,  to  take  the  rules, 

As  Brother  Dionysius,  Capucin, 

She,  to  become  first  postulant,  then  nun 

According  to  the  rules  of  Benedict, 

Sister  Scolastica  :    so  ended  they, 

And  so  do  I — not  end  nor  yet  commence 

One  note  or   comment.     What  was  done  was  done. 

Now,  Father  of  the  Mission,  here's  your  case  ! 

And,  Mother  of  the  Convent,  here's  its  cure  ! 

If  separation  was  permissible, 

And  that  decree  of  Christ,  "  What  God  hath  joined 

Let  no  man   put  asunder,"  nullified 

Because  a  couple,  blameless  in  the  world, 

Had  the  conceit  that,  still  more  blamelessly, 

Out  of  the  world,  by  breach  of  marriage-vow, 

Their  life  was  like  to  pass,  —  you  oracles 


440        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY: 

Of  God,  —  since  holy  Paul  says  such  you  are, — 
Hesitate,  not  one  moment,  to  pronounce 
When  questioned  by  the  pair  now  needing  help 
*'  Each  from  the  other  go,  you  guilty  ones, 
Preliminary  to  your  least  approach 
Nearer  the  Power  that  thus  could  strain  a  point 
In  favor  of  a  pair  of  innocents 
Who  thought  their  wedded  hands  not  clean  enough 
To  touch  and  leave  unsullied  their  souls'  snow  ! 
Are  not  your  hands  found  filthy  by  the  world, 
Mere  human  law  and  custom  ?     Not  a  step 
Nearer  till  hands  be  washed  and  purified ! " 

What  they  did  say  is  immaterial,  since 
Certainly  it  was  nothing  of  the  kind. 
There  was  no  washing  hands  of  him  (alack, 
You  take  me?  —  in  the  figurative  sense!) 
But,  somehow,  gloves  were  drawn  o'er  dirt  and  all. 
And  practice  with  the  Church  procured  thereby. 
Seeing  that,  —  all  remonstrance  proved  in  vain, 
Persuasives  tried  and  terrors  put  to  use, 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  44  • 

I  nowise  question, — when  the  guilt}'  pair 

Only  embraced  the  closelier,  obstinate, — 

Father  and  Mother  went  from  Clairvaux  back 

Their  wear}'  way,  with  heaviness  of  heart, 

I  grant  you,  but  each  palm  well  crossed  with  coin, 

And  nothing  like  a  smutch  perceptible. 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  niight  compound 

For  sin?  —  no,  surely!   but  by  gifts  —  prepare 

His  soul  the  better  for  contrition,  say ! 

Gift  followed  upon  gift,  at  all  events. 

Good   counsel   was  rejected,  on  one  part : 

Hard  money,  on  the  other  —  may  we  hope 

Was  unreflectingly  consigned  to  purse? 

Two  years  did  this  experiment  engage 
Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda:    how  by  gifts 
-To  God  and  to  God's  poor,  a  man  might  stay 
In  sin  and  yet  stave  off  sin's  punishment. 
No  salve  could  be  conceived  more  nicely  mixed 
For  this  man's  nature, — generosity, — 
Susceptibility  to  human  ills, 


442        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Corporeal,  mental,  —  self-devotedness 

Made  up  Miranda  —  whether  strong  or  weak 

Elsewhere,  may  be  inquired  another  time. 

In  mercy,  he  was  strong,  at  all   events. 

Enough  !    he  could  not  see   a  beast  in  pain, 

Much  less  a  man,  without  the  will  to  aid  ; 

And  where  the  will  was,  there  the  means  were  too, 

Since  that  good  bargain  with  the  Cousinry. 

The  news  flew  fast  about  the  countryside 

That,  with  the  kind  man,  it  was  ask   and  have; 

And  ask  and  have  they  did.      To  instance  you:  — 

A  mob  of  beggars  at  The  Ravissante 

Clung  to  his  skirts  one  day,  and  cried,  "  We  thirst !  " 

Forthwith  he  bade  a  cask  of  wine  be  broached 

To   satisfy  all  comers,  till,  dead-drunk 

And  satisfied,  they  strewed  the  holy  place. 

For  this  was  grown  religious   and  a  rite  : 

Such  slips  of   judgment,  gifts  irregular, 

Showed  but  as  spillings  of    the  golden  grist 

On  either  side  the  hopper,  through  blind  zeal ; 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  443 

Steadily  the  main  stream  went  pouring  on 

From   mill  to  mouth  of   sack  —  held  wide  and  close 

By  Father  of  the  Mission,  Parish-priest, 

And  Mother  of   the  Convent,  Nun  I   know, 

With  such  effect  that,  in  the  sequel,   proof 

Was  tendered  to  the  Court  at  Virc,  last  month, 

That  in  these  same  two  years,  expenditure 

At  quiet   Clairvaux  rose   to  the  amount 

Of  Forty  Thousand  English  pounds :    whereof 

A  trifle  went,  no  inappropriate  close 

Of    bount}',  to  supply  the  Virgin's  crown 

With  that  stupendous   jewel  from   New  York, 

Now  blazing  as  befits  the   Star   of    Sea. 

Such  signs  of   grace,  outward  and  visible, 
I  rather  give  you,  for  your  sake  and  mine, 
Than  put  in  evidence  the  inward  strife, 
Spiritual  effort  to  compound  for  fault 
By  payment  of  devotion  —  thank  the  phrase  ! 
That  payment  was  as  punctual,  do  not  doubt, 
As  its  far  easier  fjllow.      Yesterday 


444       KED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

I  trudged  the  distance  from  The  Ravissante 

To  Clairvaux,  with  my  two  feet:   but  our  friend, 

The  more  to  edif}^  tlie  countiy-folk, 

Was  wont  to  make  that   journey  on  both  knees. 

''  Maliciously  perverted  incident !  " 

Snarled  the  retort,  when  this  was  told  at  Vire  : 

"  The  man  paid  mere  devotion  as  he  passed. 

Knelt  decently  at   just  each  wayside  shrine  ! " 

Alas,  my  lawyer,  I  trudged  yesterdaj'  — 

On  my  two  feet,  and  with  both  eyes  wide  ope,  - 

The  distance,  and  could  find  no  shrine  at  all ! 

According  to  his  lights,  I  praise  the  man. 

Enough  !    incessant  was  devotion,  say  — 

With  her,  you  know  of,  praying  at  his  side. 

Still,  there  be  relaxations  of  the  tense  : 

Or  life  indemnifies  itself   for  strain. 

Or  finds  its  very  strain  grow  feebleness. 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda's  days  were  passed 

Much  as  of   old,  in  simple  work  and  play. 

His  first  endeavor,  on  recovery 

From  that  sad  ineffectual  sacrifice, 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  445 

Had  been  to  set  about  repairing  loss: 

Never  admitting,  loss  was  to  repair. 

No  word  at  any  time  escaped  his  lips 

—  Betrayed  a  lurking  presence,  in  his  heart, 

Of    sorrow ;   no  regret  for  mischief   done  — 

Punishment  suffered,  he  would  rather  say. 

Good-tempered  schoolboj^-fashion,  he  preferred . 

To  laugh  away  his  flogging,  fair  price  paid 

For  pleasure  out  of  bounds :    if   needs  must  be, 

Get  pleasure  and  get  flogged  a  second  time  ! 

A  sullen  subject  would  have  nursed  the  scars 

And  made  excuse,  for  thi'owing  grammar  by, 

That  bench  was  grown  uneasy  to  the  seat. 

No  :    this  poor  fellow  cheerfully  got  hands 

Fit  for  his  stumps,  and  what  hands  failed  to  do, 

The  other  members  did  in  their  degree  — 

Unwonted  service.      With  his  mouth  alone 

He  wrote,  nay,  painted  pictures  —  think  of    that? 

He  played  on  a  piano  pedal-keyed, 

Kicked  out  —  if   it  was  Bach's — good  music  thence. 

He  rode,  that's  readily  conceivable, 


446        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

But  then  he  shot  and  never  missed  his  bird, 
With  other  feats  as  dexterous :    I  infer 
He  was  not  ignorant  what  hands  are  worth, 
When  lie  resolved  on  ruining  his  own. 

So  the  two  years  passed  somehow  —  who  shall  say 

Foolishly, — as  one  estimates  mankind. 

The  work  they  do,  the  play  they  leave  undone  ?  — 

Two  whole  years  spent  in  that  experiment 

I  told  you  of,  at  Clairvaux  all  the  time. 

From  April   on   to  April :    why  that  month 

More  than  another,  notable  in  life  ? 

Does  the  awakening  of  the  year  arouse 

Man  to  new  projects,  nen^e  him  for  fresh  feats 

Of  what  proves,  for  the  most  part  of   mankind 

Playing  or  working,  novel  folly  too? 

At  any  rate,  I  see  no  slightest  sign 

Of  folly  (let  me  tell  you  in  advance) 

Nothing  but  wisdom  meets  me  manifest 

In  the  procedure  of   the  Twentieth  Day 

Of    April,  'Seventy,— folly's  year  in  France. 


I 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  447 

It  Was  delightful   Spring,   and  out  of    doors 

TcmiDtation  to  adventure.      Walk  or  ride  ? 

There  was  a  wild  young  horse  to   exercise, 

And  teach   the  way  to  go,   and  pace  to  keep: 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  chose  to   ride. 

So,  while  they  clapped  soft  saddle  straight  on  back, 

And  bitted  jaw  to  satisfaction,  —  since 

The  partner  of    his  days  must  stay  at  home, 

Teased  by  some  trifling  legacy  of   March 

To  throat  or  shoulder,  —  visit  duly  paid 

And  "farewell"  given  and  received  again, — 

As  chamber-door  considerately  closed 

Behind  him,  still  five  minutes  were  to  spend. 

How  better,  than  by  clearing,  two  and  two, 

The  staircase-steps  and  coming  out  aloft 

Upon  the  platform  yonder  (raise  your  e3res!) 

And  tasting,  just  as  those  two  years  before. 

Spring's  bright  advance  upon  the  tower  a-top, 

The  feature  of   the  front,  the  Belvedere? 

Look  at  it  for  a  moment  while  I  breathe. 


IV. 


Ready  to  hear  the  rest  ?      How  orood  vou  are  ! 


Now  for  this  Twentieth  splendid  day  of  Spring, 

All  in  a  tale,  —  sun,  wind,  sky,  earth  and  sea,  — 

To  bid  man,  "  Up,  be  doing ! "      Mount  the  stair, 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  mounts  so  brisk. 

And  look  —  ere  his  elastic  foot  arrive  — 

Your  longest,  far  and  wide,  o'er  fronting  space. 

Yon  white    streak  —  Havre  lighthouse  !      Name    and 

name, 
How  the  mind  runs  from  each  to  each  relay, 
Town  after  town,  till  Paris'  self  be  touched. 
Superlatively  big  with  life  and  death 


TURF  AND    TOWERS.  419 

To  all  the  world,  that  very  day  perhaps ! 

But  who  stepped  out  upon  the  platform  here, 

Pinnacled  over  the  expanse,  gave  thought 

Neither  to  Rouher  nor  Ollivier,  Roon 

Nor  Bismarck,  Emperor  nor  King,  but  just 

To  steeple,  church,  and  shrine.  The  Ravissante ! 

He  saw  Her,  whom  myself  saw,  but  when  Spring 
Was  passing  into  Fall :    not  robed  and  crowned 
As,  thanks  to  him,  and  her  you  knov/  about. 
She  stands  at  present;    but  She  smiled  the  same. 
Thither  he  turned  —  to  never  turn  away. 

He  thought  .  . 

(Suppose  I  should  prefer  "He  said"? 
Along  with  ever}'  act  —  and  speech  is  act — 
There  go,  a  multitude  impalpable 
To  ordinar}'  human  facult}', 
The  thoughts  which  give  the  act  significance. 
Wlio  is  a  poet  needs  must  apprehend 


45 o        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Alike   both    speech    and   thoughts   which   prompt   to 

speak. 
Part  these,  and  thouglit  withdraws  to  poetry: 
Speech  is  reported  in  the  newspaper.) 

He  said,  then,  probably  no  word  at  all, 

But  thought  as  follows — in  a  minute's  space  — 

One  particle  of  ore  beats  out  such  leaf  ! 

"This  Spring  morn,  I  am  forty-three  j-ears  old: 

In  prime  of    life,  perfection  of    estate 

Bodily,  mental,  nay,  material  too, — 

My  very  worldly  fortunes  reach  their  height. 

Body  and  soul  alike  on  eminence  : 

It  is  not  probable  I  ever  raise 

Soul  above  standard  by  increase  of  worth, 

Nor  reasonably  may  expect  to  lift 

Body  beyond  the  present  altitude. 

"  Behold  me,  Lady  called  The  Ravissante ! 
Such  as  I  am,  I  —  gave  myself  to  you 


OR,    TURF  AXD    TOWERS.  451 

So  long  since,  that  I  cannot  say  '  I  give.' 

All  my  belongings,  what  is  summed  in  life, 

I  have  submitted  wholly  —  as  man  might. 

At  least,  as  /might,  who  am  weak,  not  strong, — 

Wholly,  then,  to  your  rule  and  governance, 

So  far  as  I  had  strength.      My  weakness  w^as  — 

I  felt  a  fascination,   at  each  point 

And  pore  of  me,  a  Power  as  absolute 

Claiming,  my  soul  should  recognize  her  sway. 

O  you  were  no  whit  clearlier  Queen,  I  see. 

Throughout  the  life  that  rolls  out  ribbon-like 

Its  shot-silk  length  behind  me,  than  the  strange 

Mystery  —  how  shall  I  denominate 

The  unrobed  One  ?    Robed  you  go  and  crowned  as  well, 

Named  by  the  nations :    she  is  hard  to  name, 

Though  you  have  spelt  out  certain  characters 

Obscure  upon  what  fillet  binds  her  brow, 

Lust  of  the  fleshy  lust  of  the  eye,  Ife  'j  pride. 

'  So  call  her,  and  contemn  the  enchantress!' — *  Crush 

The  despot,  and  recover  liberty ! ' 


452        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

You  were  conspicuous  and  pre-eminent, 

Authoritative  and  imperial,  —  you 

Spoke  first,  claimed  homage  he :   did  I  hesitate  ? 

Born  for  no  master}',  but  servitude, 

I  cannot  serve  two  masters,  says  the  Book  ; 

Master  should  measure  strength  with  master,  then. 

Before  the  servant  be  imposed  a  task. 

You  spoke  first,  promised  best,  and  threatened  most ; 

The  other  never  threatened,  promised,  spoke 

A  single  word,  but,  when  your  part  was  done, 

Lifted  a  finger,  and  I,  prostrate,  knew 

Films  were  about  me,  though  you  stood  aloof 

Smiling  or  frowning,  'Where  is  power  like  mine 

To  punish  or  reward  thee  ?     Rise,  thou  fool  ! 

WiR  to  be  free,  and,  lo,  I  lift  thee  loose  ! ' 

Did  I  not  will,  and  could  I  rise  a  whit  ? 

Lay  I,  at  any  time,  content  to  lie  ? 

'To  lie,  at  all  events,  brings  pleasure:    make 

Amends  by  undemanded  pain ! '  I  said. 

Did  not  you  prompt  me  t     '  Purchase  now  by  pain 

Pleasure  hereafter  in  the  world  to  come ! ' 


OR,    rURF  AND    TOWERS.  453 

I  could  not  pluck  my  heart  out,  as  you  bade : 

Unbidden,  I  burned  off  ray  hands  at  least. 

My  soul  retained  its  treasure ;    but  my  purse 

Lightened  itself  with  much  alacriL3^ 

Well,  where  is  the  reward  ?    what  promised  fruit 

Of  sacrifice  in  peace,  content  ?   what  sense 

Of  added  strength  to  bear  or  to  forbear  ? 

What  influx  of  new  light  assists  me  now 

Even  to  guess  you  recognize  a  gain 

In  what  was  loss  enough  to  mortal  me  ? 

But  she,  the  less  authoritative  voice, 

Oh,  how  distinct  enunciating,  how 

Plain  dealing !     Gain  she  gave  was  gain  indeed  ! 

That,  you  deny :    that,  you  contemptuous  call 

Acorns,  swine's  food  not  man's  meat !  '  Spurn  the  draff! ' 

Ay,  but  those  life-tree  apples  I  prefer, 

Am  I  to  die  of  hunger  till  they  drop  ? 

Husks  keep  flesh  from  starvation,  anyhow. 

Give  those  life-apples !  —  one,  worth  woods  of  oak, 

Worth  acorns  by  the  wagon-load,  —  one  shoot 

Through  heart  and  brain,  assurance  bright  and  brief 


454        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

That  you,  my  Lady,  my  own  Ravissante, 

Feel,  through  my  famine,  served  and  satisfied, 

Own  me,  your  starveling,  soldier  of  a  sort ! 

Your  soldier  !   do  I  read  my  title  clear 

Even  to  call  myself  your  friend,  not  foe  ? 

What  is  the  pact  between  us  but  a  truce  ? 

At  best  I  shall  have  staved  off  enmity. 

Obtained  a  respite,  ransomed  me  from  wrath. 

I  pay,  instalment  by  instalment,  life, 

Earth's  tribute-money,  pleasures  great  and  small, 

Whereof  should  at  the  last  one  penny  piece 

Fall  short,  the  whole  heap  becomes  forfeiture. 

You  find  in   me  deficient  soldiership  : 

Want  the  whole  life  or  none.     I  grudge  that  whole 

Because  I  am  not  sure  of  recompense  : 

Because  I  want  faith.     Whose  the  fault  ?     I  ask. 

If  insufficient  faith  have  done  thus  much, 

Contributed  thus  much  of  sacrifice. 

More  would  move  mountains,  you  are  warrant.     Well, 

Grant,  you,  the  grace,  I  give  the  gratitude ! 

And  what  were  easier?     'Ask  and  have'  folk  call 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  455 

Miranda's  method :  '  Have,  nor  need  to  ask ! ' 

So  do  they  formulate  your  quality 

Superlative  beyond  my  human  grace. 

The  Ravissante,  you  ravish  men  away 

From  jDuny  aches  and  petty  pains,  assuaged 

By  man's  own  art  with  small  expenditure 

Of  pill  or  potion,  unless,  put  to  shame, 

Nature  is  roused  and  sets  things  right  herself. 

Your  miracles  are  grown  our  common-place  ; 

No  day  but  pilgrim  hobbles  his  last  mile. 

Kneels  down  and  rises  up,  flings  crutch  away, 

Or  else  appends  it  to  the  reverend  heap 

Beneath  you,  votive  cripple-carpentry. 

Some  few  meet  failure  —  oh,  they  wanted  faith, 

And  may  betake  themselves  to  La  Salette, 

Or  seek  Lourdes,  so  that  hence  the  scandal  limp ! 

The  many  get  their  grace  and  go  their  way 

Rejoicing,  with  a  tale  to  tell,  —  most  like, 

A  staff  to  borrow,  since  die  crutch  is  gone, 

Should  the  first  telling  happen  at  my  house, 

And  teller  wet  his  whistle  with  my  wine. 


456        RED  COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

I  tell  this  to  a  doctor  and  he  laughs  : 

'  Give  me  permission  to  cry  —  Out  of   bed, 

You  loath  rheumatic  sluggard  !      Cheat  yon  chair 

Of  laziness,  its  gouty  occupant !  — 

You  should  see  miracles  performed  !      But  now, 

I  give  advice,  and  take  as  fee  ten  francs, 

And  do  as  much  as  does  your  Ravissante. 

Send  her  that  case  of   cancer  to  be  cured, 

I  have  refused  to  treat  for  any  fee, 

Bring  back  my  would-be  patient  sound  and  whole, 

And  see  me  laugh  on  t'other  side  my  mouth  ! ' 

Can  he  be  right,  and  are  you  hampered  thus  ? 

Such  pettiness  restricts  a  miracle 

Wrought  by  the  Great  Physician,  who  hears  prayer. 

Visibly  seated  in  your  mother-lap  ? 

He,  out  of   notliing,  made  sky,  earth,  and  sea, 

And  all  that  in  them  is,  man,  beast,  bird,  fish, 

Down  to  this  insect  on  my  parapet. 

Look  how  the  marvel  of   a  minim  crawls  ! 

Were  I  to  kneel  among  the  halt  and  maimed, 

And  pra}-,  '  Who  mad'st  the  insect  with  ten  legs. 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  457 

Make  me  one  finger,  grow  where  ten  were  once  !  ' 
The  very  priests  would  thrust  me  out  of   church. 
'  What  folly  does  the  madman  dare  expect  ? 
No  faith  obtains  —  in  this  late  age,  at  least  — 
Such  cure  as  that !      We  ease  rheumatics,  though ! ' 

"  Ay,  bring  the  early  ages  back  again, 

What  prodigy  were  unattainable  ? 

I  read  your  annals.      Here  came  Louis  Onze, 

Gave  thrice  the  sum  he  ever  gave  before 

At  one  time,  some  three  hundred  crowns,  to  wit  — 

On  pilgrimage  to  pray  for  —  health,  he  found  ? 

Did  he  ?      I  do  not  read  it  in  Commines. 

Here  sent  poor  joyous  Marie-Antoinette 

To  thank  you  that  a  Dauphin  dignified 

Her  motherhood  —  since  Duke  of   Normandy 

And  Martyr  of   the  Temple,  much  the  same 

As  if    no  robe  of    hers  had  dressed  you  rich. 

No  silver  lamps,  she  gave,  illumed  your  shrine  ! 

Here,  following  example,  fifty  years 

Ago,  in  gratitude  for  birth  again 


45S         RED    COTTON  NIGin-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

Of  yet  another  destined  King  of   France, 
Did  not  the  Duchess  fashion  with  her  hands, 
And  frame  in  gold  and  crystal,  and  present 
A  bouquet  made  of   artificial  flowers? 
And  was  he  King  of    France,  and  is  not  he 
Still  Count  of    Chambord? 

"  Such  the  days  of   faith, 
And  such  their  produce  to  encourage  mine  ! 
What  now,  if   I  too  count  without  my  host  ? 
I  too  have  given  money,  ornament. 
And  '  artificial  flowers'  —  which,  when  I  plucked. 
Seemed  rooting  at  my  heart  and  real  enough  : 
What  if   I  gain  thereby  nor  health  of   mind, 
Nor  youth  renewed  which  perished  in  its  prime. 
Burnt  to  a  cinder  'twixt  the  red-hot  bars, 
Nor  gain  to  see  my  second  baby-hope 
Of   managing  to  live  on  terms  with  both 
Opposing  potentates,  the  Power  and  you, 
Crowned  with  success,  but  dawdle  out  my  days 
In  exile  here  at  Clairvaux,  with  mock  love, 


OR,    TURF  AND   TOWERS.  459 

That    gives,    while    whispering   'Would    I    dared  re- 
fuse ! '  — 
What  the  loud  voice  declares  my  heart's  free  gift  ! 
Mock  worship,  mock  superioritj' 
O'er  those  I  style  the  world's  benighted  ones, 
That  irreligious  sort  I  pity  so, 
Dumas  and  even  Hertford,  who  is  Duke? 

"  Impiety  ?      Not  if   I  know  myself  ! 

Not  if   you  know  the  heart  and  soul,  I  bear, 

I  bid  you  cut,  hack,  slash,  anatomize. 

Till  peccant  part  be  found  and  flung  away! 

Demonstrate  where  I  need  more  faith  !      Describe 

^^^.lat  act  shall  evidence  sufficiency 

Of  faith,  your  warrant  for  such  exercise 

Of  power,  in  my  behalf,  as  all  the  world, 

Except  poor  praying  me,  declares  profuse? 

Poor  me?      It  is  that  world,  not  me  alone, 

That  world  which  prates  of  fixed  laws  and  the  J>ke, 

I  fain  would  save,  poor  world  so  ignorant! 

And  your  part  were  —  vrhat  easy  miracle? 


460        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 
Oh,  Lady,  could  I  make  your  want  like  mine  !  " 

Then  his  face  grew  one  luminosity. 

"Simple,  sufficient!      Happiness  at  height! 

I  solve  the  riddle,  I  persuade  mankind. 

I  have  been   just  the  simpleton  who  stands  — 

Summoned  to  claim  his  patrimonial  rights  — 

At  shilly-shally,  may  he  knock  or  no 

At  his  own  door  in  his  own  house  and  home 

Whereof   he  holds  the  very  title-deeds  ! 

Here  is  my  title  to  this  propert}'. 

This  power  you  hold  for  profit  of   myself 

And  all  the  world  at  need  ^  which  need  is  now! 

My  title  —  let  me  hear  who  controverts  I 

Count  Mailleville  built  yon  church.     Why  did  he  so? 

Because  he  found  your  image.      How  came  that? 

His  shepherd  told  him  that  a  certain  sheep 

Was  wont  to  scratch  with  hoof    and  scrape  with  horn 

At  ground  where  once  the  Danes  had  razed  a  church. 


OR,    TURF  AND   TOWERS.  461 

Tliither  he  went,  and  there  he  dug,  and  thence 
He  disinterred  the  image  he  conveyed 
In  pomp  to  Londres  yonder,  his  domain. 
You  liked  the  old  place  better  than  the  new. 
The  Count  might  surely  have  divined  as  much: 
He  did  not ;   some  one  might  have  spoke  a  word : 
No  one  did.      A  mere  dream  had  warned  enough, 
That  back  again  in  pomp  you  best  were  borne : 
No  dream  warned,  and  no  need  of   convoy  was ; 
An  angel  caught  you  up  and  clapped  you  down,  — 
No  mighty  task,  you  stand  one  metre  high, 
Aud  people  carry  you  about  at  times. 
Why,  then,  did  you  despise  the  simple  course? 
Because  you  are  the  Queen  of  Angels  :  when 
You  front  us  in  a  picture,  there  flock  they, 
Angels  around  you,  here  and  everywhere. 

"  Therefore,  to  prove  indubitable  faith. 
Those  angels  that  acknowledge  you  their  queen, 
I  summon  them  to  bear  me  to  your  feet 
From  Clairvaux  through  the  air,  an  easy  trip  1 


462         RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Faith  without  flaw!      I  trust  your  potency, 

Berevolence,  your  will  to  save  the  world  — 

By  such  a  simplest  of  procedures,  too  ! 

Not  even  by  affording  angel-help. 

Unless  it  please  you :    there's  a  simpler  mode  : 

Only  suspend  the  law  of  gravity, 

And,  whili  at  back,  permitted  to  propel, 

The  air  helps  onward,  let  the  air  in  front 

Cease  to  oppose  my  passage  through  the  midst ! 

"  Thus  I  bestride  the  railing,  leg  o'er  leg. 

Thus,  lo,  I   stand,  a  single  inch  away, 

At  dizzy  edge  of  death,  —  no  touch  of  fear, 

As  safe  on  tower  above  as  turf  below ! 

Your  smile  enswathes  me   in  beatitude, 

You  lift  along  the  votaiy  —  who  vaults. 

Who,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  revives, 

Dropped  safely  in  the  space  before  the  church  — 

How  crowded,  since  this  morn  is  market-day  ! 

I  shall  not  need  to  speak.     The  news  v>'ill  run 

Like  wild-fire.     '  Thousands  saw  Miranda's  flight ! ' 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  463 

'Tis  telegraphed  to  Paris  in  a  trice. 

The  Boulevard  is  one  buzz  '  Do  you  believe  ? 

Well,  this  time,  thousands  saw  Miranda's  flight : 

You  know  him,  goldsmith  in  the  Place  Vendome.' 

In  goes  the  Empress  to  the  Emperor, 

'  Now  —  will  you  hesitate  to  make   disgorge 

Your  wicked  King  of  Italy  his  gains, 

Give  the  Legations  to  the  Pope  once  more  ? ' 

Which  done, — why,  grace  goes  back  to  operate, 

They  themselves  set  a  good  example  first, 

Resign  the  empire  twenty  years  usurped. 

And  Henry,  the   Desired  One,  reigns  o'er  France! 

Regenerated  France  makes  all  things  new  ! 

My  house  no  longer  stands  on  Quai  Rousseau, 

But  Quai  rechristened  Alacoque  :    a  quai 

Where  Renan  burns  his  book,  and  Veuillot  burns 

Renan  beside,  since  Veuillot  rules  the  roast, 

Re-edits  now  indeed  'The  Universe.' 

O  blessing,  O  superlatively  big 

With  blessedness  beyond  all  blessing  dreamed 

By  man  !  for  just  that  promise  has  effect, 


464        RFD   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

*  Old  things  shall  pass  away  and  all  be  new  ! ' 
Then,  for  a  culminating  mercy-feat, 
"Wherefore  should  I   dare  dream  impossible 
That  I   too   have  my  portion  in  the  change  ? 
My  past  with  all  its  sorrow,  sin  and  shame, 
Becomes  a  blank,  a  nothing !     There   she  stands, 
Clara  de  Millefleurs,  all  deodorized, 
Twent)'-  years'  stain  wiped  ofE  her  innocence  ! 
There  never  was  Muhlhausen,  nor  at  all 
Duke  Hertford :  nought  that  was,   remains,  except 
The  beauty, — yes,  the  beauty  is  unchanged! 
Well,  and  the  soul  too,  that  must  keep   the  same  ! 
And  so  the   trembling  little   virgin  hand 
Melts  into   mine,  that's  back  again,  of  course ! 
—  Think  not  I  care  about  my  poor  old  self! 
I  only  want  my  hand  for  that  one  use, 
To  take  her  hand,  and  say,  'I  marry  you  — 
Men,  women,  angels,  you  behold  my  wife  ! 
There  is  no  secret,   nothing  wicked  here, 
Nothing  she  does  not  wish  the  world  to  know ! ' 
None  of  vour  married  women  have  the  right 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  465 

To  mutter,  'Yes,  indeed,  she  beats  us  all 
In  beaut)^, — but  our  lives  are  pure  at  least!' 
Bear  witness,  for  our  marriage  is  no  thing 
Done  in  a  corner !     'Tis  The  Ravissante 
Repairs  the  wrong  of  Paris.     See,  She  smiles, 
She  beckons,  She  bids,  '  Hither,  both  of  you  !  ' 
And  may  we  kneel?      And  will  j-ou  bless  us  both? 
And  may  I  worship  you,  and  yet  love  her  i 
Then  !  " 

A  sublime  spring  from  the  balustrade 
About  the  tower  so  often  talked  about, 
A  flash  in  middle  air,  and  stone-dead  lay 
Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  on  the  turf. 

A  gardener  who  watched,  at  work  the  while 
Dibbling  a  flower-bed  for  geranium-shoots, 
Saw  the  catastrophe,  and,  straightening  back, 
Stood    up    and    shook  his  brows.     "  Poor  soul,  poor 

soul. 
Just  what  I  prophesied  the  end  Avould  be  ! 
Ugh  —  the  Red  Night-cap  !  "  (as  he  raised  the  head) 


466        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

"This    must    be    what    he    meant    by  those    strange 

words 
While  I  Avas  weeding  larkspurs,  yesterday, 
'  Angels  would   take  him ! '    Mad  !  " 

No !  sane,  I  say. 
Such  being  the  conditions  of  his  life, 
Such  en.d  of  life  was  not  irrational. 
Hold  a  belief,  you  only  half  believe, 
With  all-momentous  issues  either  way,  — 
And  I  advise  you  imitate  this  leap, 
Put  faith  to  proof,  be  cured  or  killed  at  once  ! 
Call   you  man,   killed  through  cutting  cancer  out, 
The  worse  for  such  an  act  of  bravery  ? 
That's  more  than  /  know.     In  my  estimate. 
Better  lie  prostrate  on  his  turf  at  peace, 
Than,  wistful,  eye,  from  out  the  tent,  the  tower. 
Racked  with  a  doubt,  "Will  going  on  bare  knees 
All  the  way  to  The  Ravissante  and  back. 
Saying  my  Ave  Mary  all  the  time, 
Somewhat  excuse  if  I  postpone  my  march? 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  467 

—  Make  due  amends  for  that  one  kiss  I  gave 
In  gratitude  to  her  who  held  me  out 
Superioi   Fricquot's  sermon,  hot  from  press, 
A-spread  with  hands  so  sinful  yet  so  smooth  ? '' 

And  now,  sincerely  do  I  pray  she  stand, 
Clara,  with  interposing  sweep  of  robe. 
Between  us  and  this  horror!       Any  screen 
Turns  white  by  contrast  with  the  tragic  pall; 
And  her  dubiety  distracts  at  least, 
As  well  as  snow,  from  such  decided  black. 
With  womanhood,  at  least,  we  have  to  do  : 
Ending  with  Clara  —  is  the  word  too  kind  ? 

Let  pass  the  shock!       There's  poignancy  enough 
When  what  one  parted  with,  a  minute  since, 
Alive  and  happy,  is  returned  a  wreck  — 
All  that  was,  all  that  seemed  about  to  be. 
Razed  out  and  ruined  now  forevermore. 
Because  a  straw  descended  on  this  scale 
Rather  than  that,  made  death  o'er-balance  life. 


468        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

But  think  of   cage-mates  in  captivity, 

Inured  to  day-long,  night-long  vigilance 

Each  of   the  other's  tread  and  angry  turn 

When,  bolt  on  prison-bars,  a  captive  came  ! 

These  two,  society  shut  out,  and  thus 

Penned  in,  to  settle  down  and  regulate 

By  the  strange  law^,  the  solitary  life  — 

When  death  divorces  such  a  fellowship. 

This  may  pair  off  with  that  prodigious  woe 

Imagined  of    a  ghastly  brotherhood  — 

One  watcher  left  in  lighthouse  out  at  sea. 

With  leagues  of    surf   between  the  land  and  him, 

Alive  with  his  dead  partner  on  the  rock  ; 

One  galley-slave,  whom  curse  and  blow  compel 

To  labor  on  at  oar  —  beside  his  chain. 

Encumbered  with  his  corpse-companion  now. 

Such   these :    although,  no  prisoners,  self-intrenched. 

They  kept  the  world  off  from  their  barricade. 

Memory,  gratitude  was  poignant,  sure. 
Though  pride  brought  consolation  of  a  kind. 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  469 

Twenty  years  long,  had  Clara  been  —  of  whom 
The  rival,  na}',  the  victor,  past  dispute  ? 
What  if   in  turn  The  Ravissante  at  length 
Proved  victor  —  which  was  doubtful — anyhow, 
Here  lay  the  inconstant  with,  conspicuous  too. 
The  fruit  of   his  good  fortune ! 

"  Has  he  gained 
By  leaving  me  ?  "    she  might  soliloquize  : 
''All  love  could  do,  I  did  for  him.       I  learned 
By  heart  his  nature,  what  he  loved  and  loathed, 
Leaned  to  with  liking,  turned  from  with  distaste. 
No  matter  what  his  least  velleity, 
I  was  determined  he  should  want  no  wish. 
And  in  conformity  administered 
To  his  requirement ;    most  of   joy  I  mixed 
With  least  of    sorrow  in  life's  daily  draught, 
Twenty  years  long,  life's  proper  average. 
And  when  he  got  to  quarrel  with  my  cup, 
Would  needs  out-sweeten  honey,  and  discard 
That  gall-drop  we  require  lest  nectar  cloy, — 


470        RED  COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

I  did  not  call  him  fool,  and  vex  my  friend, 

But  quietly  allowed  experiment. 

Encouraged  him  to  dust  his  drink,  and  now 

Grate  ligfuuti  vifcB,  now  bruise  so-called  grains 

Of    Paradise,  and  now,  for  perfume,  pour 

Distilment  rare,  the  rose  of    Jericho, 

Holy-thorn,  passion-flower,  and  what  know  I  ? 

Till  beverage  obtained  the  fancied  smack. 

'Twas     wild-flower-wine     that     neither     helped     nor 

harmed 
Who  sipped  and  held  it  for  restorative  — 
What  harm  ?       But   here    has   he    been    through    the 

hedge 
Straying  in  search  of    simples,  while  my  back 
Was  turned  a  minute,  and  he  finds  a  prize, 
Monkshood  and  belladonna !     O  my  child, 
My  truant  little  bo}',  despite  the  beard, 
The  body  two  feet  broad  and  six  feet  long, 
And  v>'hat  the   calendar  counts  middle  age  — 
You  wanted,  did  you,  to  enjoy  a  flight? 
Why  not  have  taken  into  confidence 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  471 

Me,  that  was_motherto  you  ?  —  never  mind 

What  mock  disguise  of   mistress  held  you  mine  ! 

Had  you  come  laughing,  ciying,  with   request, 

'  Make  me  fly,  mother ! '    I  had  run  up  stairs, 

And  held  you  tight  the  while  I  danced  you  high 

In  air  from  tower-top,  singing,  '  Off   we  go 

(On  pilgrimage  to  Lourdes  some  day  next  month), 

And  swift  we  soar  (to  Rome  with  Peter-pence), 

And  low  we  light  (at  Paris  where  we  pick 

Another  jewel  from  our  store  of  stones 

And  send  it  for  a  present  to  the  Pope)  ! ' 

So,  dropped  indeed   you  were,  but  on  my  knees. 

Rolling  and  crowing,  not  a  bit  the  worse 

For  journey  to  your  Ravissante  and  back. 

Now,  no  more  Clairvaux  —  which  I  made  you  build, 

And  think  an  inspiration  of  your  own  — 

No  more  fine  house,  trim  garden,  pretty  park, 

Nothing  I  used  to  busy   you  about. 

And  make  believe  you  worked  for  my  surprise  ! 

What  weariness  to  me  will  work  become 

Now  that  I  need  not  seem  surprised  again  ! 


472        RED   COTTON  NIGHT -CAT   COUNT/iY; 

This   boudoir,  for  example,    witli  the  doves 
(My  stupid  maid  has  damaged,    dusting  one) 
Embossed  in  stucco  o'er  the  looking-glass 
Beside  the  toilet-table  !  dear  —  dear  me  i  " 

Here  she  looked   up  from  her  absorbing  grief. 
And  round  her,  crow-like   grouped,    the   Cousinry, 
(She  grew  aware)   sat  witnesses  at   watch. 
For,  two   daj^s   had  elapsed  since  fate   befel 
The    courser  in  the    meadow,   stretched  so  stark. 
They  did  not   cluster  on  the  tree-tops,  close 
Their   sooty  ranks,  caw  and  confabulate 
For  nothing  :    but,  like  calm  determined   crows. 
They  came   to  take  possession  of  their  corpse. 
And  who  shall  blame  them  ?     Had  not  they  the  right  ? 

One  spoke.     "  They  would  be  gentle,  not  austere. 

They  understood,  and  were  compassionate. 

Madame  Muhlhausen  lay  too  abject  now 

For   aught  but   the   sincerest  pity ;    still, 

Since  plain  speech  salves  the  wound  it  seems  to  make, 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  ^-73 

They  must   speak  plainly  —  circumstances  spoke  ! 

Sin  had   conceived    and  brought  forth  death    indeed. 

As  the  commencement,  so  the  close  of  things  : 

Just  what  might  be    expected    all   along ! 

Monsieur   Lconce    Miranda  launched   his  youth 

Into   a  cesspool  of  debauchery, 

And,  if  he  thence  emerged   all   dripping  slime, 

—  "  Where  was  the  change  except  from  thin  to  thick, 

One  warm  rich  mud-bath,  Madame  ? — you,   in  place 

Of  Paris-drainage   and  distilment,  you 

He  never  needed  budge  from,  boiled   to  rags ! 

True,  some  good  instinct  left  the  natural  man, 

Some  touch  of  that  deep  dye  wherewith  imbued 

By  education,  in  his  happier  day. 

The  hopeful  offspring  of  high  parentage 

Was  fleece-marked  moral  and  religious  sheep, — 

Some  ruddle,  faint  reminder,  (we  admit) 

Stuck  to  Miranda,  rubbed  he  ne'er  so  rude 

Against  the  goatly  coarseness  ;    to  the  last, 

Moral  he  styled  himself,  religious  too  ! 

Which  means — what  ineradicable  good, 


474         RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

You  found,  you  never  left  till  good's  self  proved 

Perversion  and  distortion,  nursed  to  growth 

So  monstrous,  that  the  tree-stock,  dead  and  dry. 

Were  seemlier  far  than  such  a  heap  grotesque 

Of  fungous  flourishing  excresence.     Here, 

Sap-like  affection,  meant  for  family, 

Stole  off  to  feed  one  sucker  fat  —  yourself ; 

While  branchage,  trained  religiously  aloft 

To  rear  its  head  in  reverence  to  the  sun, 

Was  pulled  down  earthward,  pegged  and  picketed, 

By  topiary  contrivance,  till  the  tree 

Became  an  arbor  where,  at  vulgar  ease, 

Sat  superstition  grinning  through  the  loops. 

Still,  nature  is  too  strong  or  else  too  weak 

For  cockney  treatment:    either,  tree  springs  back 

To  pristine  shape,  or  else  degraded  droops, 

And  turns  to  touchwood  at  the  heart.     So  here  — 

Body  and  mind,  at  last  the  man  gave  way. 

His  body  —  there  it  lies,  what  part  was  left 

Unmutilated  !   for,  the  strife  commenced 

Two  years  ago,  when,  both  hands  burnt  to  ash, 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  475 

A  branch  broke  loose,  by  loss  of  what  choice  twigs! 

As  for  his  mind  —  behold  our  register 

Of  all  its  moods,  from  the  incipient  mad, 

Nay,  mere  erratic,  to  the  stark  insane, 

Absolute  idiocy  or  what  is  worse  ! 

All  have  we  catalogued  —  extravagance 

In  worldly  matters,  luxury  absurd. 

And  zeal  as  crazed  in  its  expenditure 

Of  nonsense  called  devotion.     Don't  we  know 

—  We  Cousins,  bound  in  duty  to  our  kin, — 

Wliat  mummeries  were  practised  by  you  two 

At  Clairvaux  ?     Not  a  servant  got  discharge 

But  came  and  told  his  grievance,  testified 

To  acts  which  turn  religion  to  a  farce. 

And  as  the  private  mock,  so  patent  —  see  — 

The  public  scandal  !     Ask  the  neighborhood  — 

Or  rather,  since  we  asked  them  long  ago. 

Read  w^hat  they  answer,  depositions  down. 

Signed,  sealed  and  sworn   to !      Brief,  the    man  was 

mad. 
We  are  his  heirs  and  claim  our  heritage. 


\ 


476        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

Madame  Muhlhausen,  —  whom  good  taste  forbids 

We  qualify  as  do  these  documents,  — 

I'ear  not  lest  justice  stifle  mercy's  prayer  ! 

True,  bad  you  lent  a  willing  ear  at  first, 

Had  you  obeyed  our  call  two  years  ago, 

Restrained  a  certain  insolence  of  eye, 

A  volubility  of  tongue,  that  time. 

Your  prospects  had  been  none  the  worse,  perhaps. 

Still,  fear  not  but  a  decent  competence 

Shall  smooth  the  way  for  j^our  declining  age  ! 

What  we  propose,  then  .  ." 

Clara  dried  her  eyes, 
Sat  up,  surveyed  the  consistory,  spoke, 
After  due  pause,  with  something  of  a  smile. 

"  Gentlemen,  kinsfolk  of  my  friend  defunct, 
In  thus  addressing  me — of  all  the  world!  — 
You  much  misapprehend  what  part  I  play. 
I  claim  no  property  you  speak  about. 
You  might  as  well  address  the  park-keeper, 


on,    7URF  AND    TOWERS.  477 

Harangue  him  on  some  plan  advisable 

For  covering  the  park  with  cottage-plots. 

He  is  the  sen-ant,  no  proprietor, 

His  business  is  to  see  the  sward  kept  trim, 

Untrespassed  over  by  the  indiscreet : 

Beyond  that,  he  refers  you  to  myself  — 

Another  servant  of  another  kind  — 

Who  again  —  quite  as  limited  in  act  — 

Refer  you,  with  your  projects,  —  can  I  else  ? 

To  who  in  mastery  is  ultimate. 

The  Church.     The   Church  is  sole  administrant, 

Since  sole  possessor  of  what  worldly  wealth 

Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  late  possessed. 

Often  enough  has   he  attempted,   nay. 

Forced  me,  well-nigh,  to  occupy  the  post 

You  seemingly  suppose   I  fill, — receive 

As  gift  the  wealth  intrusted  me  as  grace. 

This — for  quite  other  reasons  than  appear 

So  cogent  to  your  perspicacity, — 

This  I  refused ;    and,  firm  as  you  could  wish. 

Still  was  my   answer,   '  We    t^vo  understand 


478        RED   COTTON  NIGIIT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Each  one   the  other.     I    am  intimate 

—  As  how  can  be   mere  fools  and  knaves  —  or  say, 

Even  your  Cousins? — with  your  love  to   me, 

Devotion  to  the  Churcli.     Would  Providence 

Appoint,   and   make  me    certain  of   the   same. 

That  I   survive  you  (which  is  little  like, 

Seeing  you  hardly  overpass  my  age 

And  more  than  match  me  in  abundant  health) 

In  such  case,  certainly  I  would  accept 

Your  bounty :  better  I  than   alien  hearts 

Should  execute  your  planned  benevolence 

To  man,  your  proposed  largess  to  the  Church. 

But  though  I  be  survivor,  —  weakly  frame, 

With  only  woman's  wit  to  make  amends,  — 

When  I  shall  die,  or  while  I  am  alive. 

Cannot  you  figure  me  an  easy  mark 

For  hypocritical  rapacit}', 

Kith,  kin  and  generation,   couching  low, 

Ever  on  the  alert  to  pounce  on  prey  ? 

Far  be  it  I  should  say  they  profited 

By  that  first  frenzj^-fit  themselves  induced, — 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  479 

Cold-blooded  scenical  buffoons_at  sport 

With  horror  and  damnation  o'er  a  grave  : 

That  were  too  shocking  —  I    absolve  them  there ! 

Nor  did  they  seize  the  moment  of  your  swoon 

To  rifle  pocket,  v/ring  a  paper  thence, 

Their  Cousinly  dictation,  and  enrich 

Thereby  each  mother's  son  as  heart   could  wish. 

Had  nobody  supplied  a  codicil. 

But  when  the  pain,  poor  friend  !    had  prostrated 

Your  body,  though  your  soul  was  right  again, 

I  fear  they  turned  your  weakness  to  account ! 

Why  else  to  me,  who  agonizing  watched. 

Sneak,  cap  in  hand,  now  bribe  me  to  forsake 

jSIy  maimed  Leonce,  now  bully,  cap  on  head, 

The  impudent  pretension  to  assuage 

Such  sorrows  as  demanded  Cousin's  care?  — 

For  you  rejected^  hated,  fled  7ne,  far. 

In  foreign  lands  you  laughed  at  ?ne  ! —  they  judged. 

And,  think  you,  will  the  unkind  ones  hesitate 

To  tn,-  conclusions  with  my  helplessness,  — 

To  pounce  on,  misuse  me,  your  derelict, 


4&0        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY: 

Helped  by  advantage  that  bereavement  lends 
Folks,  who,  while  yet   you   lived,  played    tricks    like 

these  ? 
You  only  have  to  die,  and  they  detect. 
In  all  you  said  and  did,  insanity  ! 
Your  faith  was  fetish-worship,  your  regard 
For  Christ's  prime  precept  which  endows  the  poor 
And  strips  the  rich,  a  craze  from  first  to  last ! 
They  so  would  limn  your  likeness,  paint  your  life, 
That  if   it  ended  by  some  accident,  — 
For  instance,  if,    attempting  to  arrange 
The  plants  below  that  dangerous   Belvedere 
I  cannot  warn  you  from  sufficiently. 
You  lost  3'Our  balance  and  fell  headlong — fine 
Occasion,  such,  for  ciying.  Suicide! 
Non  compos  mentis,  naturally  next. 
Hands  over  Clairvaux  to  a  Cousin-tribe 
Who  nor  like  me  nor  love  The  Ravissante, 
Therefore  be  ruled  by  both !     Life-interest 
In  Clairvaux, — conservation,  guardianship 
Of   earthly  good  for  heavenly  purpose,  —  give 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  48 1 

Such  and  no  other  proof   of   confidence  ! 
Let  Clara  represent  The  Ravissante  !  " 
—  To  whom  accordingly,  he  then  and  there 
Bequeathed  each  stick  and  stone,  by  testament 
In  holograph,  mouth  managing  the   quill : 
Go,  see  the  sam.e  in  Londres,  if  j'ou  doubt !  " 

Then  smile  grew  laugh,  as  sudden  up  she  stood 
And  out  she  spoke :    intemperate  the  speech  ! 

"  And  now,  sirs,  for  your  special  courtesy, 
Your  candle  held  up  to  the  character 
Of   Lucie  Steiner,  whom  you  qualify 
As  coming  short  of  perfect  womanhood. 
Yes,  kindly  critics,  truth  for  once  you  tell ! 
True  is  it  that  through  childhood,  poverty. 
Sloth,  pressure  of   temptation,  I  succumbed. 
And,  ere  I  found  what  honor  meant,  lost  mine. 
So  was  tlie  sheep  lost,  which  the  Shepherd  found 
And  never  lost  again.      My  friend  found  me  ; 
Or  better  say,  the  Shepherd  found  us  both  — 


482  RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

Since  he,  my  friend,  was  mucli  in  the  same  mire 
When  first   we    made    acquaintance.      Each    helped 

each,  — 
A  twofold  extrication  from   the  slough ; 
And,  saving  me,  he  saved  himself.      Since  then, 
Unsmirched  we  kept  our  cleanliness  of   coat. 
It  is  his  perfect  constancy,  you  call 
My  friend's  main  fault  —  he  never  left  his  love! 
While  as  for  me,  I  dare  your  worst,  impute 
One  breach  of   loving  bond,  these  twenty  years. 
To  me  whom  only  cobwebs  bound,  you  count ! 
'  He  was  religiously  disposed  in  youth  ! ' 
That  may  be,  though  we  did  not  meet  at  church. 
Did  he  become  Voltarian  like  your  scamps, 
Under  my  teaching,  fools  who  mock  his  faith? 
'  Infirm  of  body  ! '      I  am  silent  there  : 
Even  yourselves  acknowledge  service  done, 
Whatever  motive  your  own  souls  supply 
As  inspiration.      Love  made  labor  light." 

Then  laugh  grevs'  frown,  and  frown  grew  terrible. 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  4^3 

Do  recollect  what  sort  of   person  shrieked  — 

"  Such  was  I,   saint  or  sinner,  what  you  please  : 

And  who  is  it  casts  stone  at  me  but  you  ? 

By  your  own  showing,  sirs,  you  bought  and  sold. 

Took  what  advantage  bargain  promised  bag, 

Abundantly  did  business,  and  with  whom  ? 

Miranda!  —  you  pronounce  imbecile,  push 

Indignantly  aside  if   he  presume 

To  settle  his  affairs  like  other  folk ! 

How  is  it  you  have  stepped  into  his  shoes, 

And  stand  there,   bold  as  brass,   '  Miranda,  late, 

Now,  Firm-Miranda?'      Sane,  he  signed  away 

That  little  birthright,  did  he  ?      Hence  to   trade  ! 

I  know  you,  and  he  knew  who  dipped  and  ducked. 

Truckled  and  plaj-ed  the  parasite  in  vain. 

As  now  one,  now  the  other,  here  you  cringed, 

Were  feasted,  took  our  presents,  you  —  those  drops, 

Just  for  your  wife's  adornment !    you  —  that  spray 

Exactly  suiting,  as  most  diamonds  do. 

Your  daughter  on  her  marriage  !      No  word  then 

Of  somebody  the  wanton  !      Hence,  I  say, 


484        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Subscribers  to  the  '  Siecle,'  every  snob  — 

For  here  the  post  brings  me  the  '  Univers  '  ! 

Home  and  make  money  in  the  Place  Vendome, 

Sully  yourselves  no  longer  by  my  sight, 

And^  when  next  Schneider  wants  a  new  parure, 

Be  careful  lest  you  stick  there  by  mischance 

That  stone  beyond  compare  intrusted  you 

To  kindle  faith  with,  when,   Miranda's  gift, 

Crowning  the  very  crown.  The  Ravissante 

Shall  claim  it  !      As  to  Clairvaux  —  talk  to  Her  ! 

She  answers  by  the  Chapter  of  Raimbaux  !  " 

Vituperative,  truly !      All  this  wrath 

Because  the  man's  relations  thought  him  mad  ! 

Whereat,  I  hope  you  see  the  Cousinry 

Turn  each  to  other,  blankly  dolorous, 

Consult  a  moment,  more  by  shrug  and  shrug 

Than  mere  man's  language,  —  finally  conclude 

To  leave  the  reprobate  untroubled  now 

In  her  unholy  triumph,  till  the  Law 

Shall  right  the  injured  ones  ;    for  gentlemen 

Allow  the  female  sex,  this  sort  at  least, 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  48: 

Its  privilege.      So,  simply  "  Cockatrice  !  "  — 

"  Jezebel  !  "'  —  "  Queen  of  the  Camellias  !  "  —  cried 

Cousin  to  cousin,  as  yon  hinge  a-creak 

Shut  out  the  party,  and  the  gate  returned 

To  custody  of   Clairvaux.      "  Pretty  place  ! 

What  say  you,  when  it  proves  our  propert}', 

To  tr)'ing  a  concurrence  with  La  Roche, 

And  laying  down  a  rival  oyster-bed  ? 

Where  the  park  ends,  the  sea  begins,  you  know." 

So  took  they  comfort  till  they  came  to  Vire. 

But   I  would  linger,  fain  to  snatch  a  look 

At  Clara  as  she  stands  in  pride  of  place. 

Somewhat  more  satisfying  than  my  glance 

So  furtive,  so  near  futile,  yesterday, 

Because  one  must  be  courteous.      Of  the  masks 

That  figure  in  this  little  history, 

She  only  has  a  claim  to  my  respect, 

And  one-eyed,  in  her  French  phrase,  rules  the  blind. 

Miranda  hardly  did  his  best  with  life  : 

He  might  have  opened  eye,  exerted  brain, 


486         RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Attained  conception  as  to  right  and  law 

In  certain  points  respecting  intercourse 

Of  man  with  woman  —  love,  one  Hkes  to  say; 

\Vliich  knowledge  had  dealt  rudely  with  the  claim 

Of  Clara  to  play  representative 

And  from  perdition  rescue  soul,  forsooth  ! 

Also,  the  sense  of  him  should  have  sufficed 

For  building  up  some  better  theory 

Of  how  God  operates  in  heaven  and  earth, 

Than  would  establish  Him  participant 

In  doings  yonder  at  The  Ravissante. 

The  heart  was  wise  according  to  its  lights 

And  limits  ;   but  the  head  refused  more  sun, 

And  shrank  into  its  mew,  and  craved  less  space. 

Clara,  I  hold  the  happier  specimen,  — 

It  may  be,  through  that  artist-preference 

For  work  complete,  inferiorly  proposed, 

To  incompletion,  though  it  aim  aright. 

Morally,  no  !      Aspire,  break  bounds  !      I  say 

Endeavor  to  be  good,  and  better  still, 

And  best !      Success  is  nought,  endeavor's  all. 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  487 

But  intellect  adjusts  the  means  to  ends, 

Tries  the  low  thing,  and  leaves  it  done,  at  least  y 

No  prejudice  to  high  thing,  intellect 

Would  do  and  will  do,  only  give  the  means. 

Miranda,  in  my  picture-gallery, 

Presents  a  Blake;   be  Clara  —  Meissonnier  ! 

Merely  considered  so,  by  artist,  mind  ! 

For,  break  through  Art  and  rise  to  poetry, 

Bring  Art  to  tremble  nearer,  touch  enough 

The  verge  of  vastness  to  inform  our  soul 

What  orb  makes  transit  through  the  dark  above. 

And  there's  the  triumph  !  —  there  the  incomplete, 

More  than  completion,  matches  the   immense,  — 

Then,  Michelagnolo  against  the  world  ! 

With  this  proviso,  let  me  study  her 

Approvingly,  the  finished  little  piece  ! 

Born,  bred,  with   just  one  instinct,  —  that  of  growth  : 

Her  quality  was,  caterpillar-like, 

To  ail-unerringly  select  a  leaf 

And  without  intermission  feed  her  fill, 

Become  the  Painted  Peacock,  or  belike 


488        RED  COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY ; 

The  Brimstone-wing,  when  time  of  year  should  suit  ; 

And  'tis  a  sign  (say  entomologists) 

Of  sickness,  when  the  creature  stops  its  meal 

One  minute,  either  to  look  up  at  heaven, 

Or  turn  aside  for  change  of  aliment. 

No  doubt  there  was  a  certain  ugliness 

In  the  beginning,  as  the  grub  grew  worm  : 

She  could  not  find  the  proper  plant  at  once. 

But  crawled  and  fumbled  through  a  whole   parterre. 

Husband  Muhlhausen  served  for  stuff   not  long  : 

Then  came  confusion  of  the  slimy  track 

From  London,  "  where  she  gave  the  tone  a  while," 

To  Paris  :    let  the  stalks  start  up  again, 

Now  she  is  off  them,  all  the  greener  they ! 

But,  settled  on  Miranda,  how  she  sucked, 

Assimilated  juices,  took  the  tint, 

Mimicked  the  form  and  te.xture  of  her  food  ! 

Was  he  for  pastime  ?     Who  so  frolic-fond 

As  Clara?     Had  he  a  devotion-fit? 

Clara  grew  serious  with  like  qualm,  be  sure  I 

In  health  and  strength  he,  —  healthy  too  and  strong. 


I 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  4S9 

She  danced,  rode,  drove,  took  pistol-practice,  fished. 

Nay,  "  managed  sea-skifF  with  consummate  skill." 

In  pain  and  weakness,  he,  —  she  patient  watched 

And  whiled  the  slow  drip-dropping  hours  away. 

She  bound  again  the  broken  self-respect, 

She  picked  out  the  true  meaning  from  mistake, 

Praised  effort  in  each  stumble,  laughed,  "  Well-climbed  !  " 

When  otjiers  groaned,  "  None  ever  grovelled  so !  '' 

"Rise,  you  Jhave  gained  experience!"  was  her  word  : 

"Lie  satisfied,  the  ground  is   just  your  place!" 

They  thought  appropriate   counsel.     "  Live,   not  die. 

And  take^jTiy,  full  life  to   eke  out  your  own  : 

That  shall  repay  me   and  with  interest  ! 

Write  !  —  is  your  mojath   not  clever  as  my  hand  ? 

Paint! — the_Jast_  Exposition  warrants  me, 

Plentv  of  people  must  ply  brush  with  toes. 

And  as  for  music  —  look,  what  folks  nickname 

A  lyre,  those   ancients  played  to  ravishment,  — 

Over  the  pendule,  see,  Apollo  grasps 

A  three-stringed  gimcrack  which  no   Liszt  could   coax 

Such  music  from  as  jews-harp  makes  to-day  ! 


49°        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Do  your  endeavor  like  a  man,  and  leave 
The  rest  to  '  fortune  who  assists  the  bold  '  — 
Learn,   you,  the  Latin  which  you  taught  me  first, 
You  clever  creature  —  clever,  yes,  I  say  1 " 

If  he  smiled,  "  Let  us  love,  love's  wrong  comes  right, 
Shows  reason   last  of  all  !     Necessity 
Must  meanwhile  serve  for  plea  —  so,  mind  not  much 
Old    Fricquot's   menace  !  "  —  back   she    smiled   "  Who 

minds  ? " 
If  he  sighed,  "  Ah,  but  She  is  strict,  they  say, 
For  all  Her  mercy  at  The  Ravissante, 
She  scarce  will  be  put  off  so  !  "  —  straight  a  sigh 
Returned,  "  My  lace  must  go  to  trim  Her  gown  !  " 
I  nowise  doubt  she  inwardly  believed 
Smiling  and  sighing  had  the  same  effect 
Upon  the  venerated._image.      What 
She  did  believe  in,  I  as  little  doubt, 
Was  —  Clara,    and  her  birthright  to  sustain 
Existence,  grow  from  grub  to  butterfly, 
Upon  unlimited  Miranda-leaf; 


OR.    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  491 

In  which  prime  article  of  faith  confirmed, 

According  to  capacity,  she  fed 

On  and  on  till  the  leaf  was  eaten  up, 

That  April  morning.     Even   then,  I  praise 

Her  forethought  which  prevented  leafless  stalk 

Bestowing  any  hoarded  succulence 

On  earwig  and  blackbeetle  squat  beneath  ;  — 

Clairvaux,  that  stalk  whereto  her  hermitage 

She  tacked   by  golden  throv/  of  silk,  so  fine. 

So  any  thing  but  feeble,  that  her  sleep 

Inside  it,  through  last  winter,   two  years  long, 

Recked  little  of  the  storm  and  strife  without. 

"But — loved  him?"     Friend,  I  do  not  praise  her  love! 

True  love  works  never  for  the  loved  one  so, 

Nor  spares  skin-surface,  smoothening  truth  away. 

Love  bids  touch  truth,  endure  truth,  and  embrace 

Truth,  though,  embracing  truth,  love  crush  itself.    ' 

"  Worship  not  me,  but  God !  "  the  angels  urge  : 

That  is  love's  grandeur :    still,  in  pettier  love 

The  nice  eye  can  distinguish  grade  and  grade. 

Shall  mine  degrade  the  velvet  green  and  puce 


492         RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Of  caterpillar,  palmer-worm  —  or  what  — 

Ball  in  and  out  of  ball,  each  ball  with  brush 

Of  Venus'  eye-fringe  round  the  turquoise  egg 

That  nestles  soft, — compare  such  paragon 

With  any  scarabaeus  of  the  brood 

That,  born  to  fly,  keeps  wing  in  wing-case,  walks 

Persistently  a-trundling  dung  on  earth  ? 

Egypt  may  venerate  such  hierophants, 

Not  I  —  the  couple  yonder.  Father  Priest 

And  Mother  Nun,  who  came  and  went  and  came, 

Beset  this  Clairvaux,  trundled  money-muck 

To  midden  and  the  main  heap  oft  enough, 

But  never  bade  unshut  from  sheath  the  gauze, 

Nor  showed  that,  who  would  fly,  should  let  fall  filth. 

Warning,  "Your  jewel,  brother,  is  a  blotch: 

Sister,  your  lace  trails  ordure.     Leave  your  sins, 

And  so  best  gift  the  Crown  and  grace  the   Robe  !  " 

The  superstition  is  extinct,  you  hope? 

It  were,  with  my  good  will !     Suppose  it  so, 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  493 

Bethink  you  likewise  of  the  hitest  use 
Whereto  a  Night-cap  is  convertible, 
And  draw  your  very  thickest,  thread  and  thrum, 
O'er  such  a  decomposing  face  of  things, 
Once  so  alive,  it  seemed  immortal  too  ! 

This  happened  two  j^ears  since.     The  Cousinry 
Returned  to  Paris,  called  in  help  from  Law, 
And  in  due  form  proceeded  to  dispute 
Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda's  competence, 
Being  insane,  to  make  a  valid  Will. 

Much  testimony  volunteered  itself ; 

The  issue  hardly  could  be  doubtful  —  but 

For  that  sad  'Seventy  which  must  intervene, 

Provide  poor  France  with  other  work  to  mind 

Than  settling  lawsuits,  even  for  the  sake 

Of  such  a  party  as  The  Ravissante. 

It  only  was  this  Summer  that  the  case 

Could  come  and  be  disposed  of,  two  weeks  since, 

At  Vire  —  Tribunal  Civil  —  Chamber  First. 


494        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COUNTRY; 

Here,  issued  with  all  regularity, 

I  hold  the  judgment — just,  inevitable, 

Nowise  to  be  contested  by  what  few 

Can  judge  the  judges;    sum  and  substance,  thuS' 

"Inasmuch  as  we  find,  the  Cousinry, 
During  that  very  period  when  they  take 
Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  for  stark  mad, 
Considered  him  to  be  quite  sane  enough 
For  doing  much  important  business  with  — 
Nor  showed  suspicion  of  his  competence 
\     Until,  by  turning  of    the  tables,  loss 

\    Instead  of   gain  accrued  to  them  thereby,  — 
Plea  of  incompetence  we  set  aside. 
— "  The  rather,  that  the  dispositions,  sought 
To  be  impugned,  are  natural  and  right, 
Nor  jar  with  any  reasonable  claim 
Of  kindred,  friendship  or  acquaintance  here. 

!    Nobody  is  despoiled,  none  overlooked  ; 

I    Since  the  testator  leaves  his  property 

\  To  just  that  person  whom,  of  all  the  world. 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  495 

He  counted  he  was  most  indebted  to. 

In  mere  discharge,  then,  of  conspicuous  debt, 

Madame  Muhlhausen  has  priority. 

Enjoys  the  usufruct  of  Clairvaux. 

"  Next, 
Such  debt  discharged,  such  life  determining. 
Such  earthly  interest  provided  for. 
Monsieur  Leonce  Miranda  may  bequeath, 
In  absence  of  more  fit  recipient,  fund 
And  usufruct  together  to  the  Church 
Whereof  he  was  a  special  devotee. 

—  "  Which  disposition,  being  consonant 
With  a  long  series  of  such  acts  and  deeds 
Notorious  in  his  life-time,  needs  must  stand. 
Unprejudiced  by  eccentricity 
Nowise  amounting  to  distemper  :    since, 
In  every  instance  signalized  as  such, 
We  recognize  no  over-leaping  bounds, 
No  straying  out  of  the  permissible: 


496        RED   COTTON  NIGHT-CAP  COCJNTRY . 

Duty  to  the  Religion  of  the  Land,  — 
Neither  excessive  nor  inordinate. 

"  The  minor  accusations  are  dismissed  ; 

They  prove  mere  freak  and  fancy,  boyish  mood 

In  age  mature  of   simple  kindly  man. 

Exuberant  in  generosities 

To  all  the  world:   no  fact  confirms  the  fear 

He  meditated  mischief   to  himself 

That  morning  when  he  met  the  accident 

Which  ended  fatally.      The  case  is  closed." 

How  otherwise  ?      So,  when  I  grazed  the  skirts, 
And  had  the  glimpse  of  who  made,  yesterday, — 
Woman  and  retinue  of   goats  and  sheep, — 
The  sombre  path  one  whiteness,  vision-like, 
As  out  of  gate,  and  in  at  gate  again. 
They  v/avered,  —  she  was  lady  there  for  life : 
And,  after  life  —  I  hope,  a  white  success 
Of   some  sort,  wheresoever  life  resume 
^Bchool  interrupted  by  vacation  —  death  ; 


OR,    TURF  AND    TOWERS.  497 

Seeing  that  home  she  goes  with  prize  in  hand, 
Confirmed  the  Chatelaine  of   Clairvaux. 

True, 
Such  prize  fades  soon  to  insignificance. 
Though  she  have  eaten  her  Miranda  up, 
And  spun  a  cradle-cone  through  which  she  pricks 
Her  passage,  and  proves  peacock-butterfly. 
This  Autumn  —  wait  a  little  week  of   cold  ! 
Peacock  and  death's-head-moth  end  much  the  same. 
And  could  she  still  continue  spinning,  —  sure, 
Cradle  would  soon  crave  shroud  for  substitute, 
And  o'er  this  life  of   hers  distaste  would  drop 
Red-cotton-Night-cap-wise. 


How  say  you,  friend  ? 
Have  I  redeemed  my  promise  ?     Smile  assent 
Through  the  dark  Winter-gloom  between  us  both  ! 
Already,  months  ago  and  miles  away, 
I   just  as  good  as  told  you,  in  a  flash, 


498         RED   COTTON  NIGFIT-CAP  COUNTRY. 

The  while  we  paced  the  sands  before  my  house, 
All  this  poor  stor)^  —  truth  and  nothing  else. 
Accept  that  moment's  flashing,  amplified, 
Impalpability  reduced  to  speech, 
Conception  proved  by  birth,  —  no  other  change  ! 
Can  -what  Saint-Rambert  flashed  me  in  a  thought, 
Good  gloomy  London"  make  a  poem  of  ? 
Such  ought  to  be  whatever  dares  precede. 
Play  mddy  herald-start  to  your  white  blaze 
About  to  bring  us  day.      How  fail  imbibe 
Some  foretase  of   effulgence  ?      Sun  shall  wax. 
And  star  shall  wane  :   what  matter,  so  star  tell 
The  drowsy  world  to  start  awake,  rub  eyes, 
And  stand  all  ready  for  morn's   joy  a-blush? 

January  23,  1873. 


THE  INN  ALBUM, 


The   Inn  Album. 


I. 

"  That  oblong  book's  the  Album  ;  hand  it  here ! 
Exactly !  page  on  page  of  gratitude 
For  breakfast,  dinner,  supper,  and  the  view ! 
I  praise  these  poets  :  they  leave  margin-space  ; 
Each  stanza  seems  to  gather  skirts  around, 
And  primly,  trimly,  keep  the  foot's  confine, 
Modest  and  maidlike  ;  lubber  prose  o'ersprawls 
And  straddling  stops  the  i^ath  from  left  to  right. 
Since  I  want  space  to  do  my  cipher-work, 
Which  poem  spares  a  corner  ?     What  comes  first  ? 
'  Hailjalm  acclivity^  salubrious  spot ! ' 
(Open  the  window,  we  burn  daylight,  boy !) 


502  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Or  see  —  succincter  beauty,  brief  and  bold  — 
'■  If  a  fdlow  can  dine  On  rmnpsteaks  and  port  wine. 
He  needs  not  despair  Of  dining  well  here '  — 
'  Here  /'  I  myself  could  find  a  better  rhyme  ; 
That  bard's  a  Browning ;  he  neglects  the  form : 
But  ah,  the  sense,  ye  gods,  the  weighty  sense ! 
Still,  I  prefer  this  classic.     Ay,  throw  wide  ! 
I'll  quench  the  bits  of  candle  yet  unburnt.         • 
A  minute's  fresh  air,  then  to  cipher-work  ! 
Three  little  columns  hold  the  v.-hole  account : 
Ecarte,  after  which  —  Blind  Hookey  —  then 
Cutting-the-Pack,  five  hundred  pounds  the  cut. 
'Tis  easy  reckoning  :  I  have  lost,  I  think.'"' 

Two  personages  occupy  this  room 

Shabby-genteel,  that's  parlor  to  the  inn 

Perched  on  a  view-commanding  eminence  ; 

—  Inn  which  may  be  a  veritable  house 

Where  somebody  once  lived  and  pleased  good  taste 

Till  tourists  found  his  coigne  of  vantage  out, 

And  fingered  blunt  the  individual  mark 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  503 

And  vulgarized  things  comfortably  smooth. 

On  a  sprig-pattern-papered  wall  there  brays 

Complaint  to  sky  Sir  Edwin's  dripping  stag; 

His  couchant  coast-guard  creature  corresponds  ; 

They  face  the  Huguenot  and  Light  o'  the  World. 

Grim  o'er  the  mirror  on  the  mantlepiece, 

Varnished  and  coffined,  Salmo  ferox  glares, 

—  Possibly  at  the  List  of  Wines  which,  framed 

And  glazed,  hangs  somewhat  prominent  on  peg. 

So  much  describes  the  stuffy  little  room  — 

Vulgar  flat  smooth  respectability  : 

Not  so  the  burst  of  landscape  surging  in. 

Sunrise  and  all,  as  he  who  of  the  pair 

Is,  plain  enough,  the  younger  personage 

Draws  sharp  the  shrieking  curtain,  sends  aloft 

The  sash,  spreads  wide  and  fastens  back  to  wall 

Shutter  and  shutter,  shows  you  England's  best. 

He  leans  into  a  living  glory-bath 

O'  air  and  light  where  seems  to  float  and  move 

The  wooded  watered  country,  hill  and  dale 

And  steel-bright  thread  of  stream,  a-smoke  with  mist 


504  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

A-sparkle  with  May  morning,  diamond  drift 

O'  the  sun-touched  dew.     Except  the  red-roofed  patch 

Of  half  a  dozen  dwellings  that,  crept  close 

For  hill-side  shelter,  make  the  village-clump, 

This  inn  is  perched  above  to  dominate  — 

Exxept  such  sign  of  human  neighborhood, 

And  this  surmised  rather  than  sensible. 

There's  nothing  to  disturb  absolute  peace, 

The  reign  of  English  nature  —  which  means  art 

And  civilized  existence.     Wildness'  self 

Is  just  the  cultured  triumph.     Presently 

Deep  solitude,  be  sure,  reveals  a  Place 

That  knows  the  right  way  to  defend  itself : 

Silence  hems  round  a  burning  spot  of  life. 

Now,  where  a  Place  burns,  must  a  village  brood, 

And  where  a  village  broods,  an  inn  should  boast  — 

Close  and  convenient :  here  you  have  them  both. 

This  inn,  the  Something-arms  —  the  family's  — 

(Don't  trouble  Guillim  :  heralds  leave  out  half) 

Is  dear  to  lovers  of  the  picturesque. 

And  epics  have  been  planned  here  ;  but  who  plan 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  505 

Take  holy  orders  and  find  work  to  do. 

Painters  are  more  productive,  stop  a  week, 

Declare  the  prospect  quite  a  Corot,  —  ay, 

For  tender  sentiment,  —  themselves  incline 

Rather  to  handsweep  large  and  liberal ; 

Then  go,  but  not  without  success  achieved 

—  Haply  some  pencil-drawing,  oak  or  beech, 

Ferns  at  the  base  and  ivies  up  the  bole, 

On  this  a  slug,  on  that  a  butterfly. 

Nay,  he  who  hooked  the  salmo  pendent  here, 

Also  exhibited,  this  same  May-month, 

'•  Foxgloves  :  a  study  '  —  so  inspires  the  scene. 

The  air,  which  now  the  younger  personage 

Inflates  him  with  till  lungs  o'erfraught  are  fain 

Sigh  forth  a  satisfaction  might  bestir 

Even  those  tufts  of  tree-tops  to  the  South 

I'  the  distance  where  the  green  dies  off  to  gray, 

Which,  easy  of  conjecture,  front  the  Place  ; 

He  eyes  them,  elbows  wide,  each  hand  to  cheek. 

His  fellow,  the  much  older  —  either  say 


So6  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

A  youngish-old  man  or  man  oldish  young  — 

Sits  at  the  table :  wicks  are  noisome-deep 

In  wax,  to  detriment  of  plated  Avare  ; 

Above  —  piled,  strewn  —  is  store  of  playing-cards, 

Counters  and  all  that's  proper  for  a  game. 

He  sets  down,  rubs  out  figures  in  the  book, 

Adds  and  subtracts,  puts  back  here,  carries  there, 

Until  the  summed-up  satisfaction  stands 

Apparent,  and  he  pauses  o'er  the  work  : 

Soothes  what  of  brain  was  busy  under  brow, 

By  passage  of  the  hard  palm,  curing  so 

Wrinkle  and  crow-foot  for  a  second's  space  ; 

Then  lays  down  book  and  laughs  out.     No  mistake. 

Such  the  sum-total  —  ask  Colenso  else  ! 

Roused  by  which  laugh,  the  other  turns,  laughs  too  — 
The  youth,  the  good  strong  fellow,  rough  perhaps. 

"  Well,  what's  the  damage  —  three,  or  four,  or  five  ? 

How  many  figures  in  a  row  ?     Hand  here  ! 

Come  now,  there's  one  expense  all  yours  not  mine  — 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  507 

Scribbling  the  people's  Album  over,  leaf 
The  first  and  foremost  too  !     You  think,  perhaps, 
They'll  only  charge  you  for  a  bran-new  book. 
Nor  estimate  the  literary  loss  ? 

Wait  till  the  small  account  comes  !     '  To  one  7tighfs  .  .  . 
Lodging'  for  — '  beds,'  they  can't  say,  —  'poutid  or  so; 
Dinner,  Appoirmaris,  —  what  they  please, 
Attendance  not  ificluded ; '  last  looms  large 
'  Defacement  of  our  Album  late  enriched 
With  '  —  let's    see    wlmt  !      Here,    at    the    window, 

though  ! 
Ay,  breathe  the  morning  and  forgive  yovur  luck ! 
Fine  enough  country  for  a  fool  like  me 
To  own,  as  next  month,  I  suppose  I  shall  ! 
Eh  ?     True  fool's  fortune  !  so  console  yourself. 
Let's  see,  however  —  hand  the  book,  I  say  ! 
Well,  you've  improved  the  classic  by  romance. 
Queer  reading  !     Verse  with  parenthetic  prose  — 
'  Hail,  calm  acclivity,  salubrious  spot  ! ' 
(Three-two  fives)  '  life  how  profitably  spent  ^ 
(Five-nought,  five-nine  fives)  '■yonder  humble  cot,* 


5o8  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

(More  and  more  noughts  and  fives)  ^in  mild  content ; 
And  did  viy  feelings  find  the  natural  vent 
In  friendship  and  in  love,  how  blest  my  lot  /^ 
Then  follow  the  dread  figures  —  five  !     '  Content  I  ^ 
That's  apposite  !     Are  you  content  as  he  — 
Simpkin  the  sonneteer  ?     Ten  thousand  pounds 
Give  point  to  his  effusion  —  by  so  much 
Leave  me  the  richer  and  the  poorer  you 
After  our  night's  play ;  who's  content  the  most, 
I,  you,  or  Simpldn  ?  " 

So  the  polished  snob. 
The  elder  man,  refinement  every  inch 
From  brow  to  boot-end,  quietly  replies : 

"  Simpkin's  no  name  I  know.     I  had  my  whim." 

"  Ay,  had  you !     And  such  things  make  friendship  thick. 
Intimates,  I  may  boast  we  were  ;  henceforth, 
Friends  —  shall  it  not  be  ?  —  who  discard  reserve, 
Use  plain  words,  put  each  dot  upon  each  i, 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  509 

Till  death  us  twain  do  part  ?     The  bargain's  struck ! 

Old  fellow,  if  you  fancy  —  (to  begin)  — 

I  failed  to  penetrate  your  scheme  last  week, 

You  wrong  5'our  poor  disciple.     Oh,  no  airs  1 

Because  you  happen  to  be  twice  my  age 

And  twenty  times  my  master,  must  perforce 

No  blink  of  daylight  struggle  through  the  web 

There's  no  unwinding  ?     You  entoil  my  legs, 

And  welcome,  for  I  like  it :  blind  me,  —  no  ! 

A  very  pretty  piece  of  shuttle-work 

Was  that  —  your  mere  chance  question  at  the  club  — 

'  Do  you  go  anywhere  this  Whitsuntide  ? 

rm  off  for  Paris,  there's  the  Opera  —  thert^s 

The  Salon,  therms  a  china-sale,  —  beside 

Chantilly  ;  and,  for  good  companionship. 

There's  Such-and-such  and  So-and-so.     Suppose 

We  start  together  7 '     '  P/o  such  holiday  ! ' 
I  told  you  :  '  Paris  and  the  rest  be  hanged  ! 

Why  plague  me  who  am  pledged  to  home-delights  ? 
Tm  the  engaged  now  ;  through  whose  fault  but  yours  ? 

On  duty.     As  you  7vell  k?iow.     Dofi't  I  drowse 


5IO  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

The  week  away  down  with  the  Aunt  and  Niece  i 
No  help  :  it's  leisure,  loneliness,  and  love. 
'Wish  I  could  take  you  ;  but  fame  travels  fast,  — 
A  man  of  much  7iewspaper-paragraph, 
You  scare  domestic  circles ;  and  beside 
Would  not  you  like  your  lot,  that  second  taste 
Of  nature  and  approval  of  the  grounds  / 
You  might  walk  early  or  lie  late,  so  shirk 
Week-day  devotions :  but  stay  Sunday  o'er, 
And  morning  church  is  obligatory  ; 
No  mundane  garb  per77iissiblc  or  dread 
The  butler's  privileged  monition  I    No  / 
Pack  off  to  Paris,  nor  wipe  tear  away  /' 
Whereon  how  artlessly  the  happy  flash 
Followed,  by  inspiration  !  ' '  Tell  you  what — 
Lefs  turn  their  flank,  try  things  on  f  other  side  ! 
Inns  for  my  money  !    Liberty's  the  life  I 
We'll  lie  in  hiding:  there's  the  crow-nest  nook. 
The  tourist's  joy,  the  Inn  they  rave  about. 
Inn  thafs  out  —  out  of  sight  and  out  of  mind 
And  out  of  mischief  to  all  four  of  us  — 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  511 

Aunt  and  niece,  you  and  me.     At  night  arrive  ; 
At  morn,  find  time  for  just  a  Pisgah-view 
Of  my  friend's  Land  of  Promise ;  then  depart, 
And  while  Pm  whizzing  onward  by  first  train, 
Bound  for  our  own  place  {si?ice  my  Brother  sulks 
And  says  I  shun  him  like  the  plague)  yourself — 
Why,  you  have  stepped  thence,  start  from  platform,  gay, 
Despite  the  sleepless  journey,  —  love  lends  wings,  — 
Hicg  aunt  and  niece  who,  none  the  wiser,  wait 
The  faithful  advent !    Eh  ?  '     '  With  all  my  heart, ' 
Said  I  to  you  ;  said  I  to  mine  own  self : 
'  Does  he  believe  I  fail  to  comprehend 
He  wants  just  one  more  final  friendly  snack 
At  friend  s  exchequer  ere  friend  ru?is  to  earth. 
Marries,  renomices  yielding  friends  such  sport  ?  ' 
And  did  I  spoil  sport,  pull  face  grim,  '■ —  nay,  grave  ? 
Your  pupil  does  you  better  credit !     No  ! 
I  parleyed  with  my  pass-book,  —  rubbed  my  pair 
At  the  big  balance  in  my  banker's  hands,  — 
Folded  a  check  cigar-case-shape,  —  just  wants 
Filling  and  signing,  —  and  took  train,  resolved  , 


512  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

To  execute  myself  with  decency 

And  let  you  win  —  if  not  Ten  thousand  quite, 

Something  by  way  of  wind-up,  farewell  burst 

Of  firework-nosegay  !     Where's  your  fortune  fled  ? 

Or  is  not  fortune  constant  after  all  ? 

You  lose  ten  thousand  pounds :  had  I  lost  half 

Or  half  that,  I  should  bite  my  lips,  I  think. 

You  man  of  marble !     Strut  and  stretch  my  best 

On  tiptoe,  I  shall  never  reach  your  height. 

How  does  the  loss  feel  ?     Just  one  lesson  more  !  " 

The  more  refined  man  smiles  a  frown  away. 

"  The  lesson  shall  be  —  only  boys  like  you 
Put  such  a  question  at  the  present  stage. 
I  had  a  ball  lodge  in  my  shoulder  once, 
And,  full  five  minutes,  never  guessed  the  fact ; 
Next  day,  I  felt  decidedly  :  and  still. 
At  twelve  years'  distance,  when  I  lift  my  arm 
A  twinge  reminds  me  of  the  surgeon's  probe. 
Ask  me,  this  day  month,  how  I  feel  my  luck ! 


THE  INN  ALB UM.  5  1 3 

And  meantime  please  to  stop  impertinence, 

For  —  don't  I  know  its  object  ?     All  this  chaff 

Covers  the  corn  ;  this  preface  leads  to  speech, 

This  boy  stands  forth  a  hero.     *  There,  my  lord  ! 

Our  play  was  true  play,  fun  not  ear f test  I    I 

Empty  your  purse,  inside  out,  while  my  poke 

Bulges  to  bursting?      You  can  badly  spare 

A  doit,  confess  Jiow,  Duke  though  brother  be  / 

While  Pm  gold-daubed  so  thickly,  spangles  drop 

And  show  my  father' s  warehouse-apron  :  pshaw  / 

Enough  /     JVe've  had  a  palpitating  night  I 

Good  morni?2g  !    Breakfast  and  forget  our  dreams. 

My  tnouth's  shut,  mind  I    I  tell  nor  man  nor  mouse.  ' 

There,  see  !     He  don't  deny  it !     Thanks,  my  boy ! 

Hero  and  welcome  —  only,  not  on  me 

Make  trial  of  your  'prentice-hand  !     Enough  ! 

We've  played,  I've  lost  and  owe  ten  thousand  pounds. 

Whereof  I  muster,  at  the  moment,  — well. 

What's  for  the  bill  here  and  the  back  to  town. 

Still,  I've  my  little  character  to  keep  : 

You  may  expect  your  money  at  month's  end." 


514  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

The  young  man  at  the  window  turns  round  quick  - 
A  clumsy  giant  handsome  creature  ;  grasps 
In  his  large  red  the  little  lean  white  hand 
Of  the  other,  looks  him  in  the  sallow  face. 

"I  say  now  —  is  it  right  to  so  mistake 

A  fellow,  force  him  in  mere  self-defence 

To  spout  like  Mister  Mild  Acclivity 

In  album-language  ?     You  know  well  enough 

Whether  I  like  you  —  like's  no  album-word, 

Anyhow  :  point  me  to  one  soul  beside 

In  the  wide  world  I  care  one  straw  about ! 

I  first  set  eyes  on  you  a  year  ago  ; 

Since  when  you've  done  me  good  —  I'll  stick  to  it' 

More  than  I  got  in  the  whole  twenty-five 

That  make  my  life  up,  Oxford  years  and  all  — 

Throw  in  the  three  I  fooled  away  abroad, 

Seeing  myself  and  nobody  more  sage 

Until  I  met  you,  and  you  made  me  man 

Such  as  the  sort  is  and  the  fates  allow. 

I  do  think,  since  we  two  kept  company. 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  515 

I've  iearnt  to  know  a  little  —  all  through  you ! 
It's  nature  if  I  like  you.     Taunt  away  ! 
As  if  I  need  you  teaching  me  my  place  — 
The  snob  I  am,  the  Duke  your  brother  is, 
When  just  the  good  you  did  was  —  teaching  me 
My  own  trade,  how  a  snob  and  millionnaire 
May  lead  his  life  and  let  the  Duke's  alone. 
Clap  wings,  free  jackdaw,  on  his  steeple-perch, 
Burnish  his  black  to  gold  in  sun  and  air, 
Nor  pick  up  stray  plumes,  strive  to  match  in  strut 
Regular  peacocks  who  can't  fly  an  inch 
Over  the  court-yard-paling.     Head  and  heart 
(That's  album-st}de)  are  older  than  you  know. 
For  all  your  knowledge  :  boy,  perhaps  —  ay,  boy 
Had  his  adventure,  just  as  he  were  man  — 
His  ball-experience  in  the  shoulder  blade, 
His  bit  of  life-long  ache  to  recognize, 
Although  he  bears  it  cheerily  about, 
Because  you  came  and  clapped  him  on  the  back, 
Advised  him  '  Walk  and  wear  the  aching  off!  ' 
Why,  I  was  minded  to  sit  down  for  life 


5i6  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Just  in  Dalmatia,  build  a  seaside  tower 

High  on  a  rock,  and  so  expend  my  days 

Pursuing  chemistry  or  botany 

Or,  very  like,  astronomy  because 

I  noticed  stars  shone  when  I  passed  the  place : 

Letting  my  cash  accumulate  the  while 

In  England  —  to  lay  out  in  lump  at  last 

As  Ruskin  should  direct  me  !     All  or  some 

Of  which  should  I  have  done  or  tried  to  do, 

And  preciously  repented,  one  fine  day. 

Had  you  discovered  Timon,  climbed  his  rock 

And  scaled  his  tower,  some  ten  years  thence,  suppose, 

And  coaxed  his  story  from  him  !     Don't  I  see 

The  pair  conversing  !     It's  a  novel  w'rit 

Already,  I'll  be  bound,  —  our  dialogue  ! 

*  What?'  cried  the  elder  and  yet  youthful  man  — 

So  did  the  eye  flash  'ncath  the  lordly  front. 

And  the  i7nposing presence  swell  with  scorn, 

As  the  haught  high-bred  bearing  and  dispose 

Contrasted  with  his  interlocutor 

The  flabby  low-born  who,  of  bulk  before. 


THE  INN  ALB  UM.  5 1 7 

Had  steadily  tJicr eased,  one  stone  per  week. 

Since  his  abstention  from  horse-exercise : — 

'  What  ?  yoii,  as  rich  as  Rothschild,  left,  you  say, 

London  the  very  year  you  came  of  age. 

Because  your  father  manufactured  goods — 

Commission-agent  hight  of  Manchester  — 

Partly,  a?id partly  through  a  baby  case 

Of  disappointment  fve  pu7nped  out  at  last — 

And  here  you  spend  lifers  prime  in  gaining  flesh 

And  giving  science  one  more  asteroid  ?  ' 

Brief,  my  dear  fellow,  you  instructed  me. 

At  Alfred's  and  not  Istria !  proved  a  snob 

May  turn  a  million  to  account  although 

His  brother  be  no  Duke,  and  see  good  days 

Without  the  girl  he  lost  and  some  one  gained. 

The  end  is,  after  one  year's  tutelage, 

Having,  by  your  help,  touched  society, 

Polo,  Tent-pegging,  Hurlingham,  the  Rink  — 

I  leave  all  these  delights,  by  your  advice, 

And  marr}'  my  young  pretty  cousin  here 

Whose  place,  whose  oaks  ancestral  you  behold. 


5l8  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

(Her  father  was  in  partnership  with  mine  — 

Does  not  his  purchase  look  a  pedigree  ?) 

My  million  will  be  tail  and  tassels  smart 

To  this  plump-bodied  kite,  this  house  and  land 

Which,  set  a-soaring,  pulls  me,  soft  as  sleep, 

Along  life's  pleasant  meadow,  —  arm  left  free 

To  lock  a  friend's  in,  —  whose,  but  yours,  old  boy  ? 

Arm  in  arm  glide  we  over  rough  and  smooth, 

While  hand,  to  pocket  held,  saves  cash  from  cards. 

Now,  if  }'0u  don't  esteem  ten  thousand  pounds 

( —  Which  I  shall  probably  discover  snug 

Hid  somewhere  in  the  column-corner  capped 

With  '  Credit,'  based  on  ^Balance,'  —  which,  I  swear, 

By  this  time  next  month  I  shall  quite  forget 

Whether  I  lost  or  won  —  ten  thousand  pounds. 

Which  at  this  instant  I  would  give  .  .  .  let's  see, 

For  Galopin  —  nay,  for  that  Gainsborough 

Sir  Richard  won't  sell,  and  if  bought  by  me. 

Would  get  my  glance  and  praise  some  twice  a  year, — ^) 

Well,  if  you  don't  esteem  that  price  dirt-cheap 

For  teaching  me  Dalmatia  was  mistake  — 


THE  nVN  ALBUM.  519 

Why  then,  my  last  illusion-bubble  breaks, 

My  one  discovered  phoenix  proves  a  goose, 

My  cleverest  of  all  companions  —  oh, 

Was  worth  nor  tenpence  nor  ten  thousand  pounds  ! 

Come  !     Be  yourself  again  !     So  endeth  here 

The  morning's  lesson  !     Never  v/hile  life  lasts 

Do  I  touch  card  again.     To  brealcfast  now  ! 

To  bed  —  I  can't  say,  since  you  needs  must  start 

For  station  early  —  oh,  the  down-train  still, 

First  plan  and  best  plan  —  townward  trip  be  hanged  ! 

You're  due  at  your  big  brother's  —  pay  that  debt, 

Then  owe  me  not  a  farthing !     Order  eggs  — 

And  v.'ho  knows  but  there's  trout  obtainable  ?  " 

The  fine  man  looks  well-nigh  malignant :  then  — 

"  Sir,  please  subdue  your  manner  !     Debts  are  debts  : 
I  pay  mine  —  debts  of  this  sort  —  certainly. 
WTiat  do  I  care  how  you  regard  your  gains, 
Want  them  or  want  them  not  ?     The  thing  /  want 
Is  —  not  to  have  a  story  circulate 


52 o  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

From  club  to  club  —  how,  bent  on  clearing  out 

Young  So-and-so,  young  So-and-so  cleaned  me, 

Then  set  the  empty  kennel  flush  again, 

Ignored  advantage  and  forgave  his  friend  — 

For  why?     There  was  no  wringing  blood  from  stone  ! 

Oh,  don't  be  savage  !     You  would  hold  your  tongue, 

Bite  it  in  two,  as  man  may ;  but  those  small 

Hours  in  tlie  smoking-room,  when  instance  apt 

Rises  to  tongue's  root,  tingles  on  to  tip. 

And  the  tliinned  company  consists  of  six 

Capital  well-known  fellows  one  may  trust ! 

Next  week  it's  in  the  'World.'     No,  thank  you  much. 

I  owe  ten  thousand  pound :  I'll  pay  them  !  " 

"  Now,  - 
This  becomes  funny.     You've  made  friends  with  me  : 
I  can't  help  knowing  of  the  ways  and  means  ! 
Or  stay !  they  say  your  brother  closets  up 
Correggio's  long  lost  Leda :  if  he  means 
To  give  you  that,  and  if  you  give  it  me  ..." 
"/polished  snob  off  to  aristocrat? 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  t;2l 

You  compliment  me  !  father's  apron  still 

Sticks  out  from  son's  court-vesture  ;  still  silk  purse 

Roughs  finger  with  some  bristle  sow-ear-bom ! 

Well,  neither  I  nor  you  mean  harm  at  heart ! 

I  owe  you  and  shall  pay  you :  which  premised, 

Why  should  what  follows  sound  like  flattery  ? 

The  fact  is  —  you  do  compliment  too  much 

Your  humble  master,  as  I  own  I  am ; 

You  owe  me  no  such  thanks  as  you  protest. 

The  polisher  needs  precious  stone  no  less 

Than  precious  stone  needs  polisher :  believe 

I  struck  no  tint  from  out  you  but  I  found 

Snug  lying  first  'neath  surface  hairbreadth-deep ! 

Beside,  I  liked  the  exercise :  with  skill 

Goes  love  to  show  skill  for  skill's  sake.     You  see, 

I'm  old  and  understand  things  :  too  absurd 

It  were  you  pitched  and  tossed  away  your  life, 

As  diamond  were  Scotch  pebble  !   all  the  more, 

That  I  myself  misused  a  stone  of  price. 

Bom  and  bred  clever  —  people  used  to  say 

Clever  as  most  men,  if  not  something  more  — 


52  2  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Yet  here  I  stand  a  failure,  cut  awry 
Or  left  opaque,  —  no  brilliant  named  and  known. 
Whate'er  my  inner  stuff,  my  outside's  blank  ; 
I'm  nobody  —  or  rather,  look  that  same  — 
I'm — who  I  am  —  and  know  it ;  but  I  hold 
What  in  my  hand  out  for  the  world  to  see  ? 
What  ministry,  what  mission,  or  what  book 

—  I'll  say,  book  even  ?     Not  a  sign  of  these  ! 
I  began  —  laughing  —  *  All  these  when  I  like  I ' 

I  end  with  — well,  you've  hit  it !  — '  This  bofs  check 
For  just  as  many  thousands  as  he'll  spare  I ' 
The  first  —  I  could  and  would  not ;  your  spare  cash 
I  would,  and  could  not :  have  no  scruple,  pray, 
But,  as  I  hoped  to  pocket  yours,  pouch  mine 

—  When  you  are  able  !  " 

"  Which  is  —  when  to  be  ? 
I've  heard,  great  characters  require  a  fall 
Of  fortune  to  show  greatness  by  uprise  : 
They  touch  the  ground  to  jollily  rebound, 
Add  to  the  Album  !     Let  a  fellow  share 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  523 

Your  secret  of  superiority  ! 

I  know,  my  banker  makes  the  money  breed 

Money  ;  I  eat  and  sleep,  he  simply  takes 

The  dividends  and  cuts  the  coupons  off, 

Sells  out,  buys  in,  keeps  doubling,  tripling  cash, 

While  I  do  nothing  but  receive  and  spend 

But  you,  spontaneous  generator,  hatch 

A  wind-egg ;  cluck,  and  forth  struts  Capital 

As  Interest  to  me  from  egg  of  gold. 

I  am  grown  curious  :  pay  me  by  all  means  ! 

How  will  you  make  the  money  ?  " 

"  Mind  your  own  — 
Not  my  affair.     Enough  :  or  money,  or 
Money's  worth,  as  the  case  may  be,  expect 
Ere  month's  end, —  keep  but  patient  for  a  month  ! 
Who's  for  a  stroll  to  station  ?     Ten's  the  time ; 
Your  man,  with  my  things,  follow  in  the  trap  ; 
At  stoppage  of  the  down-train,  play  the  arrived 
On  platform  and  you'll  show  the  due  fatigue 
Of  the  night-journey,  —  not  much  sleep,  —  perhaps, 


524  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Your  thoughts  were  on  before  you  — yes,  indeed, 

You  join  them,  being  happily  awake 

V/ith  thought's  sole  object  as  she  smiling  sits 

At  breakfast-table.     I  shall  dodge  meantime 

In  and  out  station-precinct,  while  away 

The  hour  till  up  my  engine  pants  and  smokes. 

No  doubt,  she  goes  to  fetch  you.     Never  fear ! 

She  gets  no  glance  at  me,  who  shame  such  saints ! " 


THE  INN  ALBUM,  5^5 


II. 

So,  they  ring  bell,  give  orders,  pay,  depart 

Amid  profuse  acknowledgment  from  host 

Who  well  knows  what  may  bring  the  younger  back, 

Light  the  cigar,  descend  in  twenty  steps 

The  "  calm  acclivity"  inhale  —  beyond 

Tobacco's  balm  —  the  better  smoke  of  turf 

And  wood  fire,  —  cottages  at  cookery 

I'  the  morning,  —  reach  the  main  road  straightening  on 

'Twixt  wood  and  wood,  two  black  walls  full  of  night 

Slow  to  disperse,  though  mists  thin  fast  before 

The  advancing  foot,  and  leave  the  flint-dust  fine 

Each  speck  with  its  fire-sparkle.     Presently 

The  road's  end  with  the  sky's  beginning  mix 

In  one  magnificence  of  glare,  due  East, 

So  high  the  sun  rides,  —  May's  the  merry  month. 


526  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

They  slacken  pace  :  the  younger  stops  abrupt, 
Discards  cigar,  looks  his  friend  full  in  face. 

"  All  right ;  the  station  comes  in  view  at  end ; 

Five  minutes  from  the  beech-clump,  there  you  are ! 

I  say  :  let's  halt,  let's  borrow  yonder  gate 

Of  its  two  magpies,  sit  and  have  a  talk  ! 

Do  let  a  fellow  speak  a  moment !     More 

I  think  about  and  less  I  like  the  thing  — 

No,  you  must  let  me  !     Now,  be  good  for  once  ! 

Ten  thousand  pounds  be  done  for,  dead  and  damned ! 

We  played  for  love,  not  hate  :  yes,  hate  !     I  hate 

Thinking  you  beg  or  borrow  or  reduce 

To  str)xhnine  some  poor  devil  of  a  lord 

Licked  at  Unlimited  Loo.     I  had  the  cash 

To  lose  —  you  knew  that !  —  lose  and  none  the  less 

Whistle  to-morrow  :  it's  not  every  chap 

Affords  to  take  his  punishment  so  well ! 

Now,  don't  be  angry  with  a  friend  whose  fault 

Is  that  he  thinks  —  upon  my  soul,  I  do  — 

Your  head  the  best  head  going.     Oh,  one  sees 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  527 

Names  in  the  newspaper  —  great  this,  great  that, 
Gladstone,  Carlyle,  the  Laureate  :  —  much  I  care  ! 
Others  have  their  opinion,  I  keep  mine  : 
Which    means  —  by    right    you    ought    to    have    the 

things 
I  want  a  head  for.     Here's  a  pretty  place, 
My  cousin's  place,  and  presently  my  place. 
Not  yours  !     I'll  tell  you  how  it  strikes  a  man. 
My  cousin's  fond  of  music  and  of  course 
Plays  the  piano  (it  won't  be  for  long !) 
A  bran-new  bore  she  calls  a  ^  scmigrafid ' 
Rosewood  and  pearl,  that  blocks  the  drawing-room, 
And  cost  no  end  of  money.     Twice  a  week 
Down  comes  Herr  Somebody  and  seats  himself, 
Sets  to  work  teaching  —  with  his  teeth  on  edge  — 
I've  watched  the  rascal.     '  Does  he  play  first  rate  ?  ' 
I  ask  :  '  I  rather  think  so,'  answers  she  — 

*  He's  Whaf  s-his-Name  r  —  '  Why  give  you  lessons 

then  1 '  — 

*  /pay  three  guineas  and  the  train  beside.^ 

'  Tliis  instrument,  has  he  one  such  at  home  ?  * 


528  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

*  He  1     Has  to  practise  on  a  tadle-top, 

When  he  cati't  hire  the  proper  thiiig.^  —  *■  I  see  t 

You've  the  piano,  he  the  skill,  arid  God 

The  distribution  of  such  gifts.'     So  here  : 

After  your  teaching,  I  shall  sit  and  strum 

Polkas  on  this  piano  of  a  Place 

You'd  make  resound  with  '  Ru'e  Britannia  '  /" 

" Thanks ! 
I  don't  say  but  this  pretty  cousin's  place, 
Appendaged  with  your  million,  tempts  my  hand 
As  key-board  I  might  touch  with  some  effect." 

"  Then,   why   not  have   obtained   the    like  ?      House, 

land. 
Money,  are  things  obtainable,  you  see. 
By  clever  head-work  :  ask  my  father  else  ! 
You,   who    teach    me,   why    not  have   learned,   your- 
self ? 
Played  like  Herr  Somebody  with  power  to  thump 
And  flourish  and  the  rest,  not  bend  demure 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  529 

Pointing  out  blunders  —  '  Sharp,  not  natural! 

Permit  me  —  on  the  black  key  use  the  thumb  / ' 

There's  some  fatality,  I'm  sure  !     You  say 

'  Marry  the  cousin,  thafs  your  proper  move  ! ' 

And  I  do  use  the  thumb  and  hit  the  sharp  : 

You  should  have  listened  to  your  own  head's  hint, 

As  I  to  you  !     The  puzzle's  past  my  power. 

How    you    have    managed  —  with    such    stuff,    such 

means  — 
Not  to  be  rich  nor  great  nor  happy  man : 
Of  which  three  good  things  where's  a  sign  at  all  ? 
Just    look    at    Dizzy !      Come,  —  what   tripped   your 

heels  ? 
Instruct  a  goose  that  boasts  wings  and  can't  fly  ! 
I  wager  I  have  guessed  it!  — never  found. 
The  old  solution  of  the  riddle  fail ! 
*  Who  was  the  woman  ?  '  I  don't  ask,  but  —  '  Where 
r  the  path  of  life  stood  she  zvho  tripped  you  ?  '  " 

"  Goose 
You  truly  are  !     I  own  to  fifty  years. 


,S30  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Why  don't  I  interpose  and  cut  out — you? 
Compete  with  five  and  twenty  ?     Age,  my  boy !  " 

"  Old  man,  no  nonsense  !  —  even  to  a  boy 

That's  ripe  at  least  for  rationality 

Rapped  into  him,  as  may  be  mine  was,  once  ! 

I've  had  my  small  adventure  lesson  me 

Over  the  knuckles  !  —  likely,  I  forget 

The  sort  of  figure  youth  cuts  now  and  then, 

Competing  with  old  shoulders  but  young  head 

Despite  the  fifty  grizzling  years  ! ' 

"Aha! 
Then  that  means  —  just  the  bullet  in  the  blade 
Which  brought  Dalmatia  on  the  brain,  —  that,  too. 
Came  of  a  fatal  creature  ?     Can't  pretend 
Now,  for  the  first  time  to  surmise  as  much  ! 
Make  a  clean  breast !     Recount !  a  secret's  safe 
'Twixt  you,  me  and  the  gate-post !  " 

—  "  Can't  pretend, 
Neither,  to  never  have  surmised  your  wish ! 


THE  INN  ALBUM. 


531 


It's  no  use,  —  case  of  unextracted  ball  — 
Winces  at  finger-touching.     Let  things  be  !  " 

"  All,  if  you  love  your  love  still !     I  hate  mine." 

"  I  can't  hate." 

"  I  won't  teach  you  ;  and  won't  tell 
You,  therefore,  what  you  please  to  ask  of  me 
As  if  I,  also,  may  not  have  my  ache  !  " 

"  My  sort  of  ache  ?     No,  no  !  and  yet  —  perhaps  ! 

All  comes  of  thinking  you  superior  still. 

But  live  and  learn  !     I  say !     Time's  up  !    Good  jump 

You  old,  indeed !     I  fancy  there's  a  cut 

Across  the  wood,  a  grass-path:  shall  we  try? 

It's  venturesome,  however !  " 

"  Stop,  my  boy  ! 
Don't  think  I'm  stingy  of  experience  !     Life 
—  It's  like  this  wood  we  leave.     Should  you  and  I 


532  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Go  wandering  about  there,  though  the  gaps 

We  went  in  and  came  out  by  were  opposed 

As  the  two  poles,  still,  somehow,  all  the  same, 

By  nightfall  we  should  probably  have  chanced 

On  much  the  same  main  points  of  interest  — 

Both  of  us  measured  girth  of  mossy  tnink, 

Stripl  ivy  from  its  strangled  prey,  clapped  hands 

At  squirrel,  sent  a  fir-cone  after  crow, 

And  so  forth,  —  never  mind  what  tim^  betwixt. 

So  in  our  lives ;  allow  I  entered  mine 

Another  way  than  you  :  'tis  possible 

I  ended  just  by  knocking  head  against 

That  plaguy,  low-hung  branch  yourself  began 

By  getting  bump  from  ;  as  at  last  you  too 

May  stumble  o'er  that  stump  which  first  of  all 

Bade  me  walk  circumspectly.     Head  and  feet 

Are  vulnerable  both,  and  I,  foot-sure. 

Forgot  that  ducking  down  saves  brow  from  bruise. 

I,  early  old,  played  young  man  four  years  since 

And  failed  confoundedly :  so,  hate  alike 

Failure  and  who  caused  failure,  — curse  her  cant!' 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  533 

"  Oh,  I  see  !     You,  though  somewhat  past  the  prime, 

Were  taken  with  a  rosebud  beaut}^ !     Ah  — 

But  how  should  chits  distinguish  ?     She  admired 

Your  marvel  of  a  mind,  I"ll  undertake  ! 

But  as  to  body  .  .  .  nay,  I  mean,  .  .  .  that  is. 

When  years  have  told  on  face  and  figure."  .  .  . 

"  Thanks, 
Mister  sufficiently-instructed  /     Such 
No  doubt  was  bound  to  be  the  consequence 
To  suit  your  self-complacency  :  she  liked 
My  head  enough,  but  loved  some  heart  beneath 
Some  head  with  plentv^  of  brown  hair  a-top 
After  my  young  friend's  fashion  !     What  becomes 
Of  that  fine  speech  you  made  a  minute  since 
About  the  man  of  middle  age  you  found 
A  formidable  peer  at  twent)'-one  ? 
So  much  for  your  mock-modest}^ !  and  yet 
I  back  your  first  against  this  second  sprout 
Of  observation,  insight,  what  you  please. 
My  middle  age,  Sir,  had  too  much  success ! 


534  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

It's  odd  :  my  case  occurred  four  years  ago  — 
I  finished  just  while  you  commenced  tliat  turn 
I'  the  wood  of  life,  that  takes  us  to  the  wealth 
Of  honeysuckle,  heaped  for  who  can  reach. 
Now,  I  don't  boast :  it's  bad  style,  and  beside, 
The  feat  proves  easier  than  it  looks :  I  plucked 
Full  many  a  flower  unnamed  in  that  bouquet 
(Mostly  of  peonies  and  poppies,  though  !) 
Good  nature  sticks  into  my  button-hole. 
Therefore  it  was  with  nose  in  want  of  snuff 
Rather  than  Ess  or  Psidium,  that  I  chanced 
On  what  —  so  itixixova  ^  rosebud  beauty.'  .  .  .  Well 
She's  dead  :  at  least  you  never  heard  her  name ; 
She  was  no  courtly  creature,  had  nor  birth 
Nor  breeding  —  mere  fine-lady  breeding  ;  but 
Oh,  such  a  wonder  of  a  woman  !     Grand 
As  a  Greek  statue !     Stick  fine  clothes  on  that, 
St)"le  that  a  Duchess  or  a  Queen,  —  you  know, 
Artists  would  make  an  outer}' :  all  the  more, 
That  she  had  just  a  statue's  sleepy  grace 
Which  broods  o'er  its  o\vn  beauty.     Nay,  her  fault 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  535 

(Don't  laugh !)  was  just  perfection :  for  suppose 

Only  the  little  flaw,  and  I  had  peeped 

Inside  it,  learned  what  soul  inside  was  like. 

At  Rome  some  tourist  raised  the  grit  beneath 

A  Venus'  forehead  with  his  whittling-knife  — 

I  ^vish,  —  now,  —  I  had  played  that  brute,  brought 

blood 
To  surface  from  the  depths  I  fancied  chalk ! 
As  it  was,  her  mere  face  surprised  so  much 
That  I  stopped  short  there,  struck  on  heap,  as  stares 
The  cockney  stranger  at  a  certain  bust 
With  drooped  eyes,  —  she's  the  thing  I  have  in  mind,  — 
Down  at  my  Brother's.     All-sufficient  prize  — 
Such  outside  !     Now,  —  confound  me  for  a  prig  !  — 
Who  cares  ?     I'll  make  a  clean  breast  once  for  all ! 
Beside,  you've  heard  the  gossip.     My  life  long 
I've  been  a  woman-liker,  —  liking  means 
Loving  and  so  on.     There's  a  lengthy  list 
By  this  time  I  shall  have  to  answer  for  — 
So  say  the  good  folks :  and  they  don't  guess  half — 
For  the  worst  is,  let  once  collecting-itch 


536  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Possess  you,  and,  with  perspicacity 

Keeps  growing  such  a  greediness  that  theft 

Follows  at  no  long  distance,  —  there's  the  fact ! 

I  knew  that  on  my  Leporello-list 

Might  figure  this,  that  and  the  other  name 

Of  feminine  desirability, 

But  if  I  happened  to  desire  inscribe, 

Along  with  these,  the  only  Beautiful  — 

Here  was  the  unique  specimen  to  snatch 

Or  now  or  never.     '  Beautiful '  I  said  — 

'Beautiful '  say  in  cold  blood,  —  boiling  then 

To  tune  of  '  Haste,  secure  whate'er  the  cost 

This  rarity,  die  in  the  act,  be  damned, 

So  yon  complete  collection,  crown  your  list! ' 

It  seemed  as  though  the  whole  world,  once  aroused 

By  the  first  notice  of  such  wonder's  birth. 

Would  break  bounds  to  contest  my  prize  with  me 

The  first  discoverer,  should  she  but  emerge 

From  that  safe  den  of  darkness,  where  she  dozed 

Till  I  stole  in,  that  country  parsonage 

Where,  country  parson's  daughter,  motherless. 


THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Brotlierless,  sisterless,  for  eighteen  years 

She  had  been  vegetating  lilj'-Hke. 

Her  father  was  my  brother's  tutor,  got 

The  living  that  way  :  him  I  chanced  to  see  — 

Her  I  saw  —  her  the  world  would  grow  one  eye 

To  see,  I  felt  no  sort  of  doubt  at  all ! 

*" Secure  her r  cried  the  devil :  '■afterward 

Arrange  for  the  disposal  of  the  prize  P 

The  devil's  doing !  yet  I  seem  to  think  — 

Now,  Avhen  all's  done,  —  think  with  'a  h.\id  reposed' 

In  French  phrase  —  hope  I  think  I  meant  to  do 

All  requisite  for  such  a  rarit}'' 

When  I  should  be  at  leisure,  have  due  time 

To  learn  requirement.     But  in  evil  day  — 

Bless  me,  at  week's  end,  long  as  any  year, 

The  fatlier  must  begin  '  Young  Somebody, 

Much  recommended — for  I  break  a  rule  — 

Comes  here  to  read,  next  long  vacation.^     '  Young  I' 

That  did  it.     Had  the  epithet  been  '  rich,^ 

'' Noble, ^  ''  a  genius^  even  ''handsome,^  —  but 

— '  Yowiz' I" 


537 


538  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

"I  say  —  just  a  word  !     I  want  to  know  — 
You  are  not  married  ? " 


I? 


"  Nor  ever  were  ? " 


"Never!     Why?" 

"  Oh,  then —  never  mind  !     Go  on ! 
I  had  a  reason  for  the  question." 

"  Come,  — 
You  could  not  be  the  young  man  ? " 

"  No,  indeed ! 
Certainly  —  if  you  never  married  her  !  " 

"  That  I  did  not :  and  there's  the  curse,  you'll  see  1 
Nay,  all  of  it's  one  curse,  my  life's  mistake 
Which,  nourished  with  manure  that's  warranted 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  :;39 

To  make  the  plant  bear  wisdom,  blew  out  full 
In  folly  beyond  field-flower-foolishness  I 
The  lies  I  used  to  tell  my  womankind, 
Knowing  they  disbelieved  me  all  the  time 
Though  they  required  my  lies,  their  decent  due, 
This  woman  —  not  so  much  believed,  I'll  say. 
As  just  anticipated  from  my  mouth  : 
Since  being  true,  devoted,  constant  —  she 
Found  constancy,  devotion,  truth,  the  plain 
And  easy  commonplace  of  character. 
No  mock-lieroics  but  seemed  natural 
To  her  who  underneath  the  face,  I  knew 
Was  fairness'  self,  possessed  a  heart,  I  judged 
Must  correspond  in  folly  just  as  far 
Beyond  the  common,  —  and  a  mind  to  match,  — 
Not  made  to  puzzle  conjurors  like  me 
Who,  therein,  proved  the  fool  who  fronts  you.  Sir, 
And  begs  leave  to  cut  short  the  ugly  rest ! 
'■Trust  me !^  I  said:  she  trusted.     '■  Marry  77ie T 
Or  rather,  '  We  are  married:  when,  the  rite  2^ 
That  brought  on  the  collector's  next-day  qualm 


540  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

At  counting  acquisition's  cost.     There  lay 

My  mangel,  there  my  purse  more  light  by  much 

Because  of  its  late  lie-expenditure : 

Ill-judged  such  moment  to  make  fresh  demand — 

Bid  cage  as  well  as  catch  my  rarity ! 

So,  I  began  explaining.     At  first  word 

Outbroke  the  horror.     *  Then,  my  truths  were  lies  !^ 

I  tell  you,  such  an  outbreak,  such  new  strange 

All-unsuspected  revelation  —  soul 

As  supernaturally  grand  as  face 

Was  fair  beyond  example  —  that  at  once 

Either  I  lost  —  or,  if  it  please  you,  found 

My  senses,  —  stammered  somehow —  ''  jcst  1  and  now ^ 

Earnest .'    Forget  all  else  but  —  heart  has  loved, 

Does  love,  shall  love  you  ever  !  take  the  hand  ! ' 

Not  she !  no  marriage  for  superb  disdain, 

Contempt  incarnate ! " 

"  Yes,  it's  different,  — 
It's  only  like  in  being  four  years  since. 
I  see  now !  " 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  541 

"  Well,  what  did  disdain  do  next, 


Think  you  ? 


"  That's  past  me  :  did  not  many  you  !  — 
That's  the  main  thing  I  care  for,  I  suppose. 
Turned  nun,  or  what  ?  " 

"  Why,  married  in  a  month 
Some  parson,  some  smug  crop-haired  smooth-chinned 

sort 
Of  curate-creature,  I  suspect,  —  dived  down, 
Down,  deeper  still,  and  came  up  somewhere  else  — 
I  don't  know  where  —  I've  not  tried  much  to  know,  — 
In  short,  she's  happy :  what  the  clodpoles  call 
*  Countrified  '  with  a  vengeance  !  leads  the  life 
Respectable  and  all  that  drives  you  mad  : 
Still  —  where,  I  don't  know,  and  that's  best  for  both." 

"  Well,  that  she  did  not  like  you,  I  conceive. 
But  why  should  you  hate  her,  I  want  to  know  ?  " 


542  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

"  My  good  young  friend  —  because  or  her  or  else 

Malicious  Providence  I  have  to  hate. 

For,  what  I  tell  you  proved  the  turning-point 

Of  my  whole  life  and  fortune  toward  success 

Or  failure.     If  I  drown,  I  lay  the  fault 

Much  on  myself  who  caught  at  reed  not  rope, 

But  more  on  reed  which,  with  a  packthread's  pith, 

Had  buoyed  me  till  the  minute's  cramp  could  thaw 

And  I  strike  out  afresh  and  so  be  saved. 

It's  easy  saying  —  I  had  sunk  before. 

Disqualified  myself  by  idle  days 

And  busy  nights,  long  since,  from  holding  hard 

On  cable,  even,  had  fate  cast  me  such  ! 

You  boys  don't  know  how  many  times  men  fail 

Perforce  o'  the  little  to  succeed  i'  the  large, 

Husband  their  strength,  let  slip  the  petty  prey, 

Collect  the  whole  power  for  the  final  pounce  ! 

My  fault  was  the  mistaking  man's  main  prize 

For  intermediate  boy's  diversion  ;  clap 

Of  boyish  hands  here  frightened  game  away 

Which,  once  gone,  goes  forever.     Oh,  at  first 


THE  INN  ALBUM  543 

I  took  the  anger  easily,  nor  much 

Minded  the  anguish  —  having  learned  that  storms 

Subside,  and  teapot-tempests  are  akin. 

Time  would  arrange  things,  mend  whate'er  might  be 

Somewhat  amiss  :  precipitation,  eh  ? 

Reason  and  rhyme  prompt  —  rei^aration  !     Tiffs 

End  properly  in  marriage  and  a  dance ! 

I  said,  '  We'll  marr}',  make  the  past  a  blank  '  — 

And  never  was  such  damnable  mistake ! 

That  interview,  that  laying  bare  my  soul, 

As  it  was  first,  so  was  it  last  chance  —  one 

And  only.     Did  I  write  ?     Back  letter  came 

Unopened  as  it  went.     Inexorable 

She  fled,  I  don't  know  where,  consoled  herself 

With  the  smug  curate-creature  :  chop  and  change ! 

Sure  am  I,  when  she  told  her  shaveling  all 

His  Magdalen's  adventure,  tears  were  shed, 

Forgiveness  evangelically  shown, 

'  Loose  hair  and  lifted  eye,'  —  as  some  one  says. 

And  now,  he's  worshipped  for  his  pains,  the  sneak !  " 


544  "^HE  ^^^  ALBUM. 

"  Well,  but  your  turning-point  of  life,  —  what's  here 

To  hinder  you  contesting  Finsbury 

With  Orton,  next  election  ?     I  don't  see."'  .  .  , 

"  Not  you  !     But  /  see.     Slowly,  surely,  creeps 

Day  by  day  o'er  me  the  conviction  —  here 

Was  life's  prize  grasped  at,  gained,  and  then  let  go  ! 

—  That  with  her  —  may  be,  for  her  —  I  had  felt 

Ice  in  me  melt,  grow  steam,  drive  to  effect 

Any  or  all  the  fancies  sluggish  here 

I'  the  head  that  needs  the  hand  she  would  not  take 

And  I  shall  never  lift  now.     Lo,  your  wood  — 

Its  turnings  which  I  likened  life  to  !     Well,  — 

There  she  stands,  ending  every  avenue, 

Her  visionary  presence  on  each  goal 

I  might  have  gained  had  we  kept  side  by  side  ! 

Still  string  nerve  and  strike  foot  ?     Her  frown  forbids 

The  steam  congeals  once  more :  I'm  old  again ! 

Therefore  I  hate  myself  —  but  how  much  worse 

Do  not  I  hate  who  would  not  understand. 

Let  me  repair  things  —  no,  but  sent  a-slide 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  54.'j 

My  folly  falteringly,  stumblingly 
Down,  down  and  deeper  down  until  I  drop 
Upon  the  need  of  your  ten  thousand  pounds 
And  consequently  loss  of  mine  !     I  lose 
Character,  cash,  na}^,  common  sense  itself 
Recounting  such  a  lengthy  cock-and-bull 
Adventure,  lose  my  temper  in  the  act"  .  .  . 

"  And  lose  beside,  —  if  I  may  supplement 

The  list  of  losses,  —  train  and  ten-o'clock ! 

Hark,  pant  and  puff,  there  travels  the  swart  sign  ! 

So  much  the  better  !     You're  my  captive  now  ! 

I'm  glad  you  trust  a  fellow  :  friends  grow  thick 

This  way  —  that's  twice  said  ;  we  were  thickish,  though, 

Even  last  night,  and,  ere  night  comes  again, 

I  prophesy  good  luck  to  both  of  us  ! 

For  see  now  !  —  back  to  '  balmy  eminence ' 

Or  '  calm  acclivity '  or  what's  the  word, 

Bestow  you  there  an  hour,  concoct  at  ease 

A  sonnet  for  the  Album,  while  I  put 

Bold  face  on,  best  foot  forward,  make  for  house, 


.;46  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

March  in  to  aunt  and  niece,  and  tell  tlie  truth  — 

(Even  white-lying  goes  against  my  taste 

After  your  little  stor}\)     Oh,  the  niece 

Is  rationality  itself  !     The  aunt  — 

If  she's  amenable  to  reason  too  — 

Why,  you  stopped  short  to  pay  her  due  respect, 

And  let  the  Duke  wait  (I'll  work  well  the  Duke). 

If  she  grows  gracious,  I  return  for  you  ; 

If  thunder's  in  the  air,  why  —  bear  your  doom, 

Dine  on  rump-steaks  and  port,  and  shake  the  dust 

Of  aunty  from  your  shoes  as  off  you  go 

By  evening-train,  nor  give  the  thing  a  thought 

How  you  shall  pay  me  —  that's  as  sure  as  fate. 

Old  fellow !     Off  with  you,  face  left  about ! 

Yonder's  the  path  I  have  to  pad.     You  see, 

I'm  in  good  spirits,  God  knows  why  !     Perhaps 

Because  the  woman  did  not  marr}^  you 

—  Who  look  so  hard  at  me,  —  and  have  the  right, 

One  must  be  fair  and  own  !  " 

The  two  stand  still 
Under  an  oak. 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  547 

"  Look  here  !  "  resumes  the  youth. 
"  1  never  quite  knew  how  I  came  to  like 
You  —  so  much — wliom  I  ought  not  court  at  all  : 
Nor  how  you  had  a  leaning  just  to  me 
Who  am  assuredly  not  worth  your  pains, 
For  there  must  needs  be  plenty  such  as  you 
Somewhere  about,  —  although  I  can't  say  where,  — 
Able  and  willing  to  teach  all  you  know  ; 
While  —  how  can  you  have  missed  a  score  like  me 
With  money  and  no  wit,  precisely  each 
A  pupil  for  your  purpose,  were  it  —  ease 
Fool's  poke  of  tutor's  honor aruun-i^^  ? 
And  yet,  howe'er  it  came  about,  I  felt 
At  once  my  master :  you  as  prompt  descried 
Your  man,  I  warrant,  so  was  bargain  struck. 
Now,  these  same  lines  of  liking,  loving,  run 
Sometimes  so  close  together  they  converge  — 
Life's  great  adventures  —  you  know  what  I  mean  — 
In  people.     Do  you  know,  as  you  advanced, 
It  got  to  be  uncommonly  like  fact 
We  two  had  fallen  in  with  —  liked  and  loved 


548  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Just  the  same  woman  in  our  different  ways  ? 

I  began  life  —  poor  groundling  as  I  prove  — 

Winged  and  ambitious  to  fly  high  :  why  not  ? 

There's  something  in  '  Don  Quixote '  to  the  point, 

My  shrewd  old  father  used  to  quote  and  praise  — 

'■Am  I  bor?i  man  ?  '  asks  Sancho,  '■  being  man, 

By  possibility  I  may  be  Pope  I ' 

So,  Pope  I  meant  to  make  myself,  by  step 

And  step,  whereof  the  first  should  be  to  find 

A  perfect  woman  ;  and  I  tell  you  this  — 

If  what  I  fixed  on,  in  the  order  due 

Of  undertakings,  as  next  step,  had  first 

Of  all  disposed  itself  to  suit  my  tread, 

And  I  had  been,  the  day  I  came  of  age. 

Returned  at  head  of  poll  for  Westminster 

—  Nay,  and  moreover  summoned  by  the  Queen 

At  week's  end,  when  my  maiden-speech  bore  fruit, 

To  form  and  head  a  Tory  ministry  — 

It  would  not  have  seemed  stranger,  no,  nor  been 

More  strange  to  me,  as  now  I  estimate. 

Than  what  did  happen  —  sober  truth,  no  dream. 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  549 

I  saw  my  wondei-  of  a  woman,  —  laugh, 
I'm  past  that !  —  in  Commemoration-week. 
A  plenty  have  I  seen  since,  fair  and  foul, — 
With  eyes,  too,  helped  by  your  sagacious  wink  ; 
But  one  to  match  that  marvel  —  no  least  trace, 
Least  touch  of  kinship  and  community  ! 
The  end  was  —  I  did  somehow  state  the  fact, 
Did,  with  no  matter  what  imperfect  words, 
One  way  or  other  give  to  understand 
That  woman,  soul  and  body  were  her  slave 
Would  she  but  take,  but  try  them  —  any  test 
Of  will,  and  some  poor  test  of  power  beside : 
So  did  the  strings  within  my  brain  grow  tense 
And  capable  of  .  .  .  hang  similitudes  ! 
She  answered  kindly  but  beyond  appeal. 
'  No  sort  of  hope  for  rne,  who  came  too  late. 
She  was  another's.     Love  went  —  mine  to  her, 
Hers  Just  as  loyally  to  some  one  else  J 
Of  course  !    I  might  expect  it !     Nature's  law  — 
Given  the  peerless  woman,  certainly 
Somewhere  shall  be  the  peerless  man  to  match  ! 


55©  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

I  acquiesced  at  once,  submitted  me 
In  something  of  a  stupor,  went  my  way. 
I  fancy  there  liad  been  some  talk  before 
Of  somebody  —  her  father  or  the  like  — 
To  coach  me  in  the  holidays,  —  that's  how 
I  came  to  get  the  sight  and  speech  of  her,  — 
But  I  had  sense  enough  to  break  off  sharp, 
Save  both  of  us  the  pain." 

"  Quite  right  there !  " 

"  Eh  ? 
Quite  Avrong,  it  happens  !     Now  comes  worst  of  all ! 
Yes,  I  did  sulk  aloof  and  let  alone 
The  lovers — /disturb  the  angel-mates?  " 

"  Seraph  paired  oil  with  cherub  !  " 

"Thank  you!     While 
I  never  plucked  up  courage  to  inquire 
Who  he  was,  even,  — certain-sure  of  this, 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  551 

That  nobody  I  knew  of  had  blue  wings 
And  wore  a  star-crown  as  he  needs  must  do,  — 
Some  little  lady, — plainish,  pock-marked  girl, — 
Finds  out  my  secret  in  my  woeful  face. 
Comes  up  to  me  at  the  Apollo  Ball, 
And  pityingly  pours  her  wine  and  oil 
This  way  into  the  wound  :     ^ D ear  f-f -friend. 
Why  waste  affection  thus  on  — 7nust  I  say, 
A  somewhat  worthless  object  ?      IFho's  her  choice  — 
Irrevocable  as  deliberate  — 

Out  of  the  wide  world  1     I  shall  name  no  naiiies  — 
But  there's  a  person  in  society. 
Who,  blessed  with  rank  and  talent,  has  grown  gray 
In  idleness  and  sin  of  every  sort 
Except  hypocrisy :  he's  thrice  her  age, 
A  byword  for  '  successes  with  the  sex  ' 
As  the  French  say  —  and,  as  we  ought  to  say. 
Consummately  a  liar  and  a  rogue. 
Since  —  show  me  Where's  the  womaji  won  without 
The  help  of  this  one  lie  which  she  believes  — 
That,  never  mind  how  things  have  come  to  pasSy 


552  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

And  let  who  loves  have  loved  a  thousand  times  — 

All  the  same  he  now  loves  her  only,  loves 

Her  ever  I  if  by  '  won  '  you  just  mean  '  sold,^ 

Thafs  quite  another  compact.      Well,  this  scamp, 

Continuing  descent  from  bad  to  worse. 

Must  leave  his  fine  aiid  fashionable  prey 

(  Who  — fathered,  brothered,  husbanded, —  are  hedged 

About  with  thorny  da?iger^  and  apply 

His  arts  to  this  poor  country  ignorance. 

Who  sees  forthwith  in  the  first  rag  of  man 
Her  model  hero  /     IV hy  continue  waste 
On  such  a  woman  treasures  of  a  heart 

Would  yet  fi7id  solace,  — yes,  my  ff friend — 
In  soj7ie  cojigenial —  fiddle-diddle-dee  ? '  " 

"  Pray,  is  the  pleasant  gentleman  described 
Exact  the  portrait  which  my  '■  fffriends ' 
Recognize  as  so  like  ?     'Tis  evident 
You  half  surmised  the  sweet  original 
Could  be  no  other  than  myself,  just  now! 
Your  stop  and  start  weie  flattering  !  " 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  553 

"  Of  course 
Caricature's  allowed  for  in  a  sketch  ! 
The  longish  nose  becomes  a  foot  in  length, 
The  swarthy  cheek  gets  copper-colored,  —  still 
Prominent  beak  and  dark-hued  skin  are  facts  : 
And  ^parsofi's  daughter '  —  '■  yo:mg  man  coachable '  — 
'  Elderly  party  '  —  '■  four  years  since '  —  were  facts 
To  fasten  on,  a  moment !     Marriage,  though  — 
That  made  the  difference,  I  hope." 

"  All  right ! ' 
I  never  married  ;  wish  I  had  —  and  then 
Unwish  it :  people  kill  their  wives,  sometimes  ! 
I  hate  my  mistress,  but  I'm  murder-free. 
In  your  case,  where's  the  grievance  ?     You  came  last, 
The  earlier  bird  picked  up  the  worm.     Suppose 
You,  in  the  glory  of  your  twenty-one. 
Had  happened  to  precede  myself  !  'tis  odds 
But  this  gigantic  juvenility, 
This  offering  of  a  big  arm's  bony  hand  — 
I'd  rather  shake  than  feel  shake  me,  I  know  — 


554  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Had  moved  7ny  dainty  mistress  to  admire 
An  altogether  new  Ideal  —  deem 
Idolatry  less  due  to  life's  decline 
Productive  of  experience,  powers  mature 
By  dint  of  usage,  the  made  man  —  no  boy 
That's  all  to  make  !     I  was  the  earlier  bird  — 
And  what  I  found,  I  let  fall  j  what  you  missed, 
Who  is  the  fool  that  blames  you  for  ?  " 

"  Myself  - 
For  nothing,  every  thing  !     For  finding  out 
She,  whom  I  worshipped,  was  a  worshipper 
In  turn  of  .  .  .  but  why  stir  up  settled  mud  ? 
She  married  him  —  the  fift}^-years-old  rake  — 
How  you  have  teased  the  talk  from  me  !     At  last 
My  secret's  told  you.     I  inquired  no  more. 
Nay,  stopped  ears  when  informants  unshut  mouth  ; 
Enough  that  she  and  he  live,  deuce  take  where, 
Married  and  happy,  or  else  miserable  — 
It's  '  Cut-the-pack  ; '  she  turned  up  ace  or  knave, 
\nd  I  left  Oxford,  England,  dug  my  hole 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  555 

Out  in  Dalmatia,  till  you  drew  me  thence 
Badger-like,  — '  Back  to  LoJidon  '  was  the  word  — 
'  Do  t/iifigs,  a  many,  there,  you  fancy  hard, 
^I II  undertake  are  easy  !  '  —  the  advice. 
I  took  it,  had  my  twelvemonth's  fling  with  you  — 
(Little  hand  holding  large  hand  pretty  tight 
For  all  its  delicacy  —  eh,  my  lord  ?) 
Until  when,  t'other  day,  I  got  a  turn 
Somehow  and  gave  up  tired:  and  '■  Rest T  bade  you, 
*  Marry  your  cousin,  double  your  estate, 
And  take  your  ease  by  all  fneans  ! '     So,  I  loll 
On  this  the  springy  sofa,  mine  next  month  — 
Or  should  loll,  but  that  you  must  needs  beat  rough 
The  very  down  you  spread  me  out  so  smooth. 
I  wish  this  confidence  were  still  to  make  ! 
Ten  thousand  pounds  ?     You  owe  me  twice  the  sum 
For  stirring  up  the  black  depths  !     There's  repose 
Or,  at  least,  silence  when  misfortune  seems 
All  that  one  has  to  bear  ;  but  folly  —  yes, 
Folly,  it  all  was  !     Fool  to  be  so  meek. 
So  humble,  —  such  a  coward  rather  say  1 


556  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Fool,  to  adore  the  adorer  of  a  fool  ! 

Not  to  have  faced  him,  tried  (a  useful  hint) 

]My  big  and  bony,  here,  against  the  bunch 

Cf  lily-colored  five  with  signet-ring. 

Most  like,  for  little-finger's  sole  defence  — 

Much  as  you  flaunt  the  blazon  there  !     I  grind 

My  teeth,  that  bite  my  very  heart,  to  think  — 

To  know  I  might  have  made  that  woman  mine 

But  for  the  folly  of  the  coward  —  know  — 

Or  what's  the  good  of  my  apprenticeship 

This  twelvemonth  to  a  master  in  the  art  ? 

Mine  —  had  she  been  mine  —  just  one  moment  mine 

For  honor,  for  dishonor  —  anyhow. 

So  that  my  life,  instead  of  stagnant  .  .  .  Well, 

You've  poked  and  proved  stagnation  is  not  sleep  — 

Hang  you !  " 

*'  Hang  you  for  an  ungrateful  goose  ! 
All  this  means  —  I  who  since  I  knew  you  first 
Have  helped  you  to  conceit  yourself  this  cock 
O'  the  dunghill  with  all  hens  to  pick  and  choose  — 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  557 

Ought  to  have  helped  you  when  shell  first  was  chipped 

By  chick  tliat  wanted  prompting  '  Use  the  spur  T 

While  I  was  elsewhere  putting  mine  to  use. 

As  well  might  I  blame  you  who  kept  aloof, 

Seeing  you  could  not  guess  I  was  alive, 

Never  advised  me  '  Do  as  I  have  done  — 

Reverence  such  a  jewel  as  your  luck 

Has  scratched  tip  to  enrich  unworihifiess  / ' 

As  your  behavior  was,  should  mine  have  been, 

—  Faults  which  we  both,  too  late,  are  sorr}-  for  — 

Opposite  ages,  each  with  its  mistake  : 

'  If  youth  but  would  —  ?f  age  but  could,'  you  know  ! 

Don't  let  us  quarrel !    Come,  we're  — young  and  old  — 

Neitlier  so  badly  off !     Go  you  your  way 

Cut  to  the  Cousin !     I'll  to  Inn,  await 

The  issue  of  diplomacy  with  Aunt, 

And  wait  my  hour  on  '  cal?n  acclivity  ' 

In  rumination  manifold  —  perhaps 

About  ten  thousand  pounds  I  have  to  pay  ! " 


55?  THE  INN  ALBUM. 


III. 

Now,  as  the  elder  lights  the  fresh  cigar 
Conducive  to  resource,  and  saunteringly 
Betakes  him  to  the  left-hand  backward  path,  — - 
While,  much  sedate,  the  younger  strides  away 
To  right  and  makes  for  —  islanded  in  lawn 
And  edged  vrith  shrubbeiy  —  the  brilliant  bit 
Of  Barry's  building  that's  the  Place,  —  a  pair 
Of  women,  at  this  nick  of  time,  one  young, 
One  very  young,  are  ushered  with  due  pomp 
Into  the  same  Inn-parlor  —  '■disengaged 
Entirely  now  I '  the  obsequious  landlord  smiles, 
'  Since  the  late  occupants  —  w/ief-eof  but  one 
Was  quite  a  stranger  '  —  (smile  enforced  by  bow) 
''Left,  a  full  tiuo  hours  since,  to  catch  the  traiti, 
Probably  for  the  stranger'' s  sake  f  (Bow,  smile, 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  559 

And  backing  out  from  door  soft  closed  behind.) 

Woman  and  girl,  the  two,  alone  inside, 

Begin  their  talk  :  the  girl,  with  sparkling  eyes  — 

"  Oh,  I  forewent  him  purposely  !  but  you, 

Who  joined  at  —  journeyed  from  the  Junction  here  — 

I  wonder  how  he  failed  your  notice  !     Few 

Stop  at  our  station  :  fellow-passengers 

Assuredly  you  were  —  I  saw  indeed 

His  servant,  therefore  he  arrived  all  right. 

I  wanted,  you  know  why,  to  have  you  safe 

Inside  here  first  of  all,  so  dodged  about 

The  dark  end  of  the  platform  ;  that's  his  way  — 

To  swing  from  station  straight  to  avenue 

And  stride  the  half  a  mile  for  exercise. 

I  fancied  you  might  notice  the  huge  boy. 

He  soon  gets  o'er  the  distance  :  at  the  house 

He'll  hear  I  went  to  meet  him  and  have  missed  ; 

He'll  wait.     No  minute  of  the  hour's  too  much 

Meantime  for  our  preliminary  talk  j 


560  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

First  word  of  which  must  be  —  O  good  beyond 
Expression  of  all  goodness  —  you  to  come!  " 

The  elder,  the  superb  one,  answers  slow. 

"  There  was  no  helping  that.     You  called  for  me, 
Cried,  rather  ;  and  my  old  heart  answered  you. 
Still,  thank  me  !  since  the  effort  breaks  a  vow  — 
At  least,  a  promise  to  myself." 

"  I  know ! 
How  selfish  get  you  happy  folks  to  be  ! 
If  I  should  love  my  husband,  must  I  needs 
Sacrifice  straightway  all  the  world  to  him, 
As  you  do  ?     Must  I  never  dare  leave  house 
On  this  dread  Arctic  expedition,  out 
And  in  again,  six  mortal  hours,  though  you  — 
You  even,  my  own  friend  for  evermore. 
Adjure  me  —  fast  your  friend  till  rude  love  pushed 
Poor  friendship  from  her  vantage  —  just  to  grant 
The  quarter  of  a  whole  day's  company 


THE  INjY  album.  561 

And  counsel  ?     This  makes  counsel  so  much  more 

Need  and  necessity.     For  here's  my  block 

Of  stumbling  :  in  the  face  of  happiness 

So  absolute,  fear  chills  me.     If  such  change 

In  heart  be  but  love's  easy  consequence, 

Do  I  love  ?     If  to  marry  mean  —  let  go 

All  I  now  live  for,  should  my  marriage  be  ?  " 

The  other  never  once  has  ceased  to  gaze 
On  the  great  elm-tree  in  the  open,  posed 
Placidly  full  in  front,  smooth  bole,  broad  branch, 
And  leafage,  one  green  plenitude  of  May. 
The  gathered  thought  runs  into  speech  at  last. 

"  O  you  exceeding  beauty,  bosomful 

Of  lights  and  shades,  murmurs  and  silences, 

Sun-warmth,  dew-coolness,  —  squirrel,  bee  and  bird, 

High,  higher,  highest,  till  the  blue  proclaims 

Leave  earth,  there's  nothing  better  till  next  step 

Heavenward ! '  — so,  off  flies  what  has  wings  to  help  !  " 

And  henceforth  they  alternate.     Says  the  girl  — 


562  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

"  That's  saved  then  :  marriage  spares  the  early  taste." 

"  Four  years  now,  since  my  eye  took  note  of  tree  !  " 

"  If  I  had  seen  no  other  tree  but  this 

My  hfe-long,  while  yourself  came  straight,  you  said, 

From  tree  which  overstretched  you,  and  was  just 

One  fairy  tent  with  pitcher-leaves  that  held 

Wine,  and  a  flowery  wealth  of  suns  and  moons. 

And  magic  fruits  whereon  the  angels  feed  — 

I  looking  out  of  window  on  a  tree 

Like  yonder  —  otherwise  well-known,  much-liked, 

Yet  just  an  English  ordinaiy  elm  — 

What  marvel  if  you  cured  me  of  conceit 

My  elm's  bird  bee,  and  squirrel  tenantry 

Was  quite  the  proud  possession  I  supposed  ? 

And  there  is  evidence  you  tell  me  true. 

The  fairy  marriage-tree  reports  itself 

Good  guardian  of  the  perfect  face  and  form, 

Fruits  of  four  years'  protection  !     Married  friend, 

You  are  more  beautiful  than  ever  !  " 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  563 

"Yes  — 
I  think  that  likely.     I  could  well  dispense 
With  all  thought  fair  in  feature,  mine  or  no, 
Leave  but  enough  of  face  to  know  me  by  — 
With  all  found  fresh  in  youth  except  such  strength 
As  lets  a  life-long  labor  earn  repose 
Death  sells  at  just  that  price,  they  say ;  and  so, 
Possibly,  what  I  care  not  for,  I  keep." 

"  How   you   must    know   he    loves    you !      Chill,   be- 
fore. 
Fear  sinks  to  freezing.     Could  I  sacrifice  — 
Assured  my  lover  simply  loves  my  soul  — 
One  nose-breadth  of  fair  feature  ?     No,  indeed  ! 
Your  own  love."  .  .  . 


"  The  preliminary  hour  — 


Don't  waste  it ! " 


"  But  I  can't  begin  at  once ! 
The  angel's  self  that  comes  to  hear  me  speak 


564  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Drives  away  all  the  care  about  the  speech. 

What  an  angelic  mystery  you  are  — 

Now  —  that  is  certain  !  when  I  knew  you  first, 

No  break  of  halo  and  no  bud  of  wing  ! 

I  thought  I  knew  you,  saw  you,  round  and  through, 

Like  a  glass  ball ;  suddenly,  four  years  since, 

You  vanished,  how  and  whither  ?     Mystery ! 

Wherefore  ?     No  mystery  at  all :  you  loved. 

Were  loved  again,  and  left  the  world  of  course,  — 

Who  would  not  ?     Lapped  four  years  in  faiiy-land, 

Out  comes,  by  no  less  wonderful  a  chance, 

The  changeling,  touched  athwart  her  trellised  bliss 

Of  blush-rose  bower  by  just  the  old  friend's  voice 

That's  now  struck  dumb  at  her  own  potency. 

/  talk  of  m}''  small  fortunes  ?     Tell  me  yours  — 

Rather  !     The  fool  I  ever  was  —  I  am. 

You  see  that :  the  true  friend  you  ever  had, 

You  have,  you  also  recognize.     Perhaps, 

Giving  you  all  the  love  of  all  my  heart. 

Nature,  that's  niggai'd  in  me,  has  denied 

The  after-birth  of  love  there's  some  one  claims, 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  565 

—  This  huge  boy,  s\\'inging  up  the  avenue ; 
And  I  want  counsel  —  is  defect  in  me, ' 
Or  him  who  has  no  right  to  raise  the  love  ? 
My  cousin  asks  my  hand  :  he's  young  enough, 
Handsome,  —  my    maid    thinks,  —  manly's    more    the 

word  : 
He  asked  my  leave  to  *  drop  '  the  elm-tree  there, 
Some  morning  before  breakfast.     Gentleness 
Goes  with  the  strength,  of  course.     He's  honest  too, 
Limpidly  truthful.     For  abilit}^  — 
All's  in  the  rough  j-et.     His  first  taste  of  life 
Seems  to  have  somehow  gone  against  the  tongue  : 
He   travelled,    tried    things  —  came    back,    tried    still 

more  — 
He  says  he's  sick  of  all.     He's  fond  of  me 
After  a  certain  careless-earnest  way 
I  like  :  the  iron's  crude,  —  no  polished  steel 
Somebody  forged  before  me.     I  am  rich  — 
That's  not  the  reason,  he's  far  richer  :  no, 
Nor  is  it  that  he  thinks  me  pretty,  — frank 
Undoubtedly  on  that  point !     He  saw  once 


566  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

The  pink  of  face-perfection  —  oh,  not  you  — 
Content  yourself,  my  beauty  !  —  for  she  proved 
So  thoroughly  a  cheat,  his  charmer  .  .  .  nay, 
He  runs  into  extremes,  I'll  say  at  once. 
Lest  you  say  !     Well,  I  understand  he  wants 
Some  one  to  serve,  something  to  do :  and  both 
Requisites  so  abound  in  me  and  mine 
That  here's  the  obstacle  which  stops  consent  — 
The  smoothness  is  too  smooth,  and  I  mistrust 
The  unseen  cat  beneath  the  counterpane. 
Therefore  I  thought  —  *  Would  she  but  judge  for  me^ 
Who,  judging  for  herself,  succeeded  so  !  ' 
Do  I  love  him,  does  he  love  me,  do  both 
Mistake  for  knowledge  —  easy  ignorance  ? 
Appeal  to  the  proficient  in  each  art ! 
I  got  rough-smooth  through  a  piano-piece, 
Rattled  away  last  week  till  tutor  came. 
Heard  me  to  end,  then  grunted,  ^  Ach,  mein  Gott ! 
Sagen  Sie  "  easy  "  7     Every  note  is  wrong  ! 
All  thumped  mit  wrist  —  we'll  trouble  fingers  now  ! 
The  Frdulein  will  please  roll  up  Raff  again 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  567 

And  exercise  at  Czerny  for  one  month  I ' 

Am  I  to  roll  up  cousin,  exercise 

At  Trollope's  novels  for  a  month  ?     Pronounce  !  " 

"  Now,  place  each  in  the  right  position  first, 

Adviser  and  advised  one  !     I  perhaps 

Am  three  —  nay,  four  years  older  ;  am,  beside, 

A  wife  :  advantages  —  to  balance  which. 

You  have  a  full  fresh  joyous  sense  of  life 

That  finds  you  out  life's  fit  food  everywhere, 

Detects  enjoyment  where  I,  slow  and  dull. 

Fumble  at  fault.     Already,  these  four  years. 

Your  merest  glimpses  at  the  world  without 

Have  shown  you  more  than  ever  met  my  gaze  ; 

And  now,  by  joyance  you  inspire  joy,  — learn 

While  you  profess  to  teach,  and  teach,  although 

Avowedly  a  learner.     I  am  dazed 

Like  any  owl  by  sunshine  which  just  sets 

The  sparrow  preening  plumage  !     Here's  to  spy 

—  Your  cousin  !     You  have  scanned  him  all  your  life, 

Little  or  much ;  I  never  saw  his  face. 


568  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

You  have  determined  on  a  marriage  —  used 

Deliberation  therefore  —  I'll  believe 

No  othen\dse,  with  opporti.mity 

For  judgment  so  abounding  !     Here  stand  I  — 

Summoned  to  give  my  sentence,  for  a  whim 

(Well,  at  first  cloud-fleck  thrown  athwart  your  blue) 

On  what  is  strangeness'  self  to  me,  —  say  '  Wed  P 

Or  *  Wed  not ! '  whom  you  promise  I  shall  judge 

Presently,  at  propitious  lunch-time,  just 

While  he  car\-es  chicken  !     Sends  he  leg  for  wing  ? 

That  revelation  into  character 

And  conduct  must  suffice  me  !     Quite  as  well 

Consult  with  yonder  solitar}^  crow 

That  eyes  us  from  your  elm-top  !  " 

"  Still  the  same  ! 
Do  you  remember,  at  the  library 
We  saw  together  somewhere,  those  two  books 
Somebody  said  were  notice-worthy  ?     One 
Lay  wide  on  table,  sprawled  its  painted  leaves 
For  all  the  world's  inspection ;  shut  on  shelf 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  56Q 

Reclined  the  other  volume,  closed,  clasped,  locked  — 

Clear  to  be  let  alone.     Which  page  had  we 

Preferred  the  turning  over  of  ?     You  were. 

Are,  ever  will  be  the  locked  lady,  hold 

Inside  you  secrets  written,  —  soul  absorbed, 

iSIy  ink  upon  your  blotting-paper.     / — 

What  trace  of  you  have  I  to  show  in  turn  ? 

Dehcate  secrets !     No  one  juvenile 

Ever  essayed  at  croquet  and  performed 

Superiorly  but  I  confided  you 

The  sort  of  hat  he  wore  and  hair  it  held. 

WTiile  you  ?     One  day  a  calm  note  comes  by  post  — 

*  lam  just  married,  you  may  like  to  hear.' 

Most  men  would  hate  you,  or  they  ought ;  we  love 

What  we  fear,  — 7do  !     '  Cold'  I  shall  expect 

My  cousin  calls  you.     I  — dislike  not  him, 

But  (if  I  comprehend  what  loving  means) 

Love  you  immeasurably  more  —  more  —  more 

Than  even  he  who,  loving  you  his  \^•ife, 

Would  turn  up  nose  at  me  impertinent, 

Frivolous,  for^-ard  —  love  that  excellence 


570  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Of  all  the  earth  he  bows  in  worship  to ! 
And  who's  this  paragon  of  privilege  ? 
Simply  a  country  parson  :  his  the  charm 
That  worked  the  miracle  !     Oh,  too  absurd  — 
But  that  you  stand  before  me  as  you  stand  ! 
Such  beauty  does  prove  something,  every  thing  ! 
Beaut}''s  the  prize-power  which  dispenses  eye 
From  peering  into  what  has  nourished  root  — 
Dew  or  manure  :  the  plant  best  knows  its  place. 
Enough,  from  teaching  youth  and  tending  age 
And  hearing  sermons,  —  haply  writing  tracts,  — 
From  such  strange  love-besprinkled  compost,  lo, 
Out  blows  this  triumph !     Therefore,  love's  the  soil 
Plants  find  or  fail  of.     You,  with  wit  to  find, 
Exercise  wit  on  the  old  friend's  behalf, 
Keep  me  from  failure  !     Scan  and  scrutinize 
This  cousin  !     Surely  he's  as  worth  your  pains 
To  study  as  my  elm-tree,  crow  and  all, 
You  still  keep  staring  at !     I  read  your  thoughts ! " 

"At  last?" 


THE  IN  AT  ALBUM.  571 

"  At  first !     '  Would,  tree,  a-top  of  thee 
I  winged  were,  like  crow  perched  vioveless  there. 
And  so  conld  straightway  soar,  escape  this  bore. 
Back  to  my  nest  where  broods  who'ni  I  love  best  — 
The  parson  o'er  his  parish  — garish  —  rarish  '  — 
Oh  I  could  bring  the  rhyme  in  if  I  tried  : 
Tlie  Album  here  inspires  me  !     Quite  apart 
From  lyrical  expression,  have  I  read 
The  stare  aright,  and  sings  not  soul  just  so  ?  " 

"  Or  rather  so  ?     '  Cool co7nfort able  elm 
That  jnen  make  coffins  out  of,  —  noticfor  me 
At  thy  expense,  so  thou  permit  I  glide 
Under  thy  ferny  feet,  a  fid  there  sleep,  sleep. 
Nor  dread  awaking  though  in  heaven  itself  I '  " 

The  younger  looks  with  face  struck  sudden  white. 
The  elder  answers  its  inquiry. 

"  Dear, 
You  are  a  guesser,  not  a  '  clazrvoyante.' 


572  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

I'll  SO  far  open  you  the  locked  and  shelved 
Volume,  my  soul,  that  you  desire  to  see, 
As  let  you  profit  by  the  titlepage"  — 

'' Paradise  Lost  V 

"  Inferno  ! —  All  which  comes 
Of  tempting  me  to  break  my  vow.     Stop  here ! 
Friend,  whom  I  love  the  best  in  the  whole  world, 
Come  at  your  call,  be  sure  that  I  will  do 
At  your  requirement  —  see  and  say  my  mind. 
It  may  be  that  by  sad  apprenticeship 
I  have  a  keener  sense  :  I'll  task  the  same. 
Only  indulge  me  —  here  let  sight  and  speech 
Happen  —  this  Inn  is  neutral  ground,  you  know ! 
I  cannot  visit  the  old  house  and  home, 
Encounter  the  old  sociality 
Abjured  forever.     Peril  quite  enough 
In  even  this  first —  last,  I  pray  it  prove  — 
Renunciation  of  my  solitude  ! 
Back,  you,  to  house  and  cousin  !     Leave  me  here. 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  573 

Who  want  no  entertainment,  carry  still 

]\Iy  occupation  witli  me.     While  I  watch 

The  shadow  inching  round  those  ferny  feet, 

Tell  him  '  A  school  frietid  wants  a  word  with  7ne 

Up  at  the  inn  :  time,  tide  and  train  won^t  wait : 

I  must  go  see  her —  OJi  and  off  again  — 

You'll  keep  me  company  ?  '     Ten  minutes'  talk, 

With  you  in  presence,  ten  more  afterward 

With  who,  alone,  convoys  me  station-bound, 

And  I  see  clearly  —  to  say  honestly 

To-morrow :  pen  shall  play  tongue's  part,  you  know  ! 

Go  —  quick  !  for  I  have  made  our  hand-in-hand 

Return  impossible.     So  scared  you  look,  — 

If  cousin  does  not  greet  you  with,  '  JFhat  ghost 

Has  crossed  your  path  1 '  I  set  him  down  obtuse." 

And  after  one  more  look,  with  face  still  white, 
The  younger  does  go,  while  the  elder  stands 
Occupied  by  the  elm  at  window  tliere. 


574  THE  INN  ALBUM. 


IV. 

Occupied  by  the  elm ;  and,  as  its  shade 

Has  crept  clock-hand-wise  till  it  ticks  at  fern 

Five  inches  farther  to  the  south,  —  the  door 

Opens  abruptly,  some  one  enters  sharp. 

The  elder  man  returned  to  wait  the  youth  — 

Never  observes  the  room's  new  occupant, 

Throws  hat  on  table,  stoops  quick,  elbow-propped 

Over  the  Album  wide  there,  bends  down  brow 

A  cogitative  minute,  whistles  shrill. 

Then,  — with  a  cheery-hopeless  laugh-and-lose 

Air  of  defiance  to  fate  visibly 

Casting  the  toils  about  him,  —  moths  once  more 

*  Hail,  cabn  acclivity,  salubrious  spot ! ' 

Then  clasps-to  cover,  sends  book  spinning  off 

T'other  side  table,  looks  up,  starts  erect 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  575 

Full-face  with  her  who,  —  roused  from  that  abstruse 
Question  '  Will  next  tick  tip  the  fern  ornoV  — 
Fronts  him  as  fully. 

All  her  languor  breaks, 
Away  withers  at  once  the  weariness 
From  the  black-blooded  brow,  anger  and  hate 
Convulse.     Speech  follows  slowlier,  but  at  last  — 

"  You  here  !     I  felt,  I  knew  it  would  befall ! 

Knew,  by  some  subtle  undivinable 

Trick  of  the  trickster,  I  should,  silly-sooth, 

Late  or  soon,  somehow  be  allured  to  leave 

Safe  hiding  and  come  take  of  him  arrears. 

My  torment  due  on  four  years'  respite  !     Time 

To  pluck  the  bird's  healed  breast  of  down  o'er  wound  ! 

Have  your  success  !     Be  satisfied  this  sole 

Seeing  you  has  undone  all  heaven  could  do 

These  four  years,  puts  me  back  to  you  and  hell ! 

What  will  next  trick  be,  next  success  ?     No  doubt 

When  I  shall  think  to  glide  into  the  grave, 


576  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

There  will  you  wait  disguised  as  beckoning  Death, 
And  catch  and  Capture  me  for  evermore  ! 
But,  God,  though  I  am  nothing,  be  thou  all ! 
Contest  him  for  me  !     Strive,  for  he  is  strong !  " 

Already  his  surprise  dies  palely  out 
In  laugh  of  acquiescing  impotence. 
He  neither  gasps  nor  hisses  :  calm  and  plain  — 

"  I  also  felt  and  knew  —  but  otherwise  ! 

You  out  of  hand  and  sight  and  care  of  me 

These  four  years,  whom  I  felt,  knew,  all  the  while  .  . 

Oh,  it's  no  superstition  !     It's  a  gift 

O'  the  gamester  that  he  snuffs  the  unseen  powers 

Which  help  or  harm  him  !     Well  I  knew  what  lurked, 

Lay  perdue  paralyzing  me,  —  drugged,  drowsed 

And  damnified  my  soul  and  body  both  ! 

Down  and  down,  see  where  you  have  dragged  me  to, 

You  and  your  malice !     I  was,  four  years  since, 

—  Well,  a  poor  creature  !     I  become  a  knave. 

I  squandered  my  own  pence  :  I  plump  my  purse 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  577 

With  other  people's  pounds.     I  practised  play 
Because  I  liked  it :  play  turns  labor  now 
Because  there's  profit  also  in  the  sport. 
I  gamed  with  men  of  equal  age  and  craft : 
I  steal  here  with  a  boy  as  green  as  grass 
Whom  I  have  tightened  hold  on  slow  and  sure 
This  long  while,  just  to  bring  about  to-day 
When  the  boy  beats  me  hollow,  buries  me 
In  ruin  who  was  sure  to  beggar  him. 
O  time  indeed  I  should  look  up  and  laugh, 
'  Surely  she  closes  on  mc  ! '     Here  you  stand  !  " 

And  stand  she  does  :  while  volubility, 

With  him,  keeps  on  the  increase,  for  his  tongue 

After  long  locking-up  is  loosed  for  once. 

"Certain  the  taunt  is  happy  !  "  he  resumes: 

"  So,  I  it  was  allured  you  —  only  I 

—  I,  and  none  other  —  to  this  spectacle  — 

Your  triumph,  my  despair  —  you  woman-fiend 

That  front  me  !     Well,  I  have  my  wish,  then  !     See 


578  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

The  low  wide  brow  oppressed  by  sweeps  of  hair 

Darker  and  darker  as  they  coil  and  swathe 

The  crowned  corpse-wanness  whence  the  eyes  burn  black, 

Not  asleep  now  !  not  pin-points  dwarfed  beneath 

Either  great  bridging  eyebrow  —  poor  blank  beads  — 

Babies,  I've  pleased  to  pity  in  my  time  : 

How  they  protrude  and  glow  immense  with  hate  ! 

The  long  triumphant  nose  attains  —  retains 

Just  the  perfection  ;  and  there's  scarlet-skein 

My  ancient  enemy,  her  lip  and  lip. 

Sense-free,  sense-frighting  lips  clenched  cold  and  bold 

Because  of  chin,  that  based  resolved  beneath  ! 

Then  the  columnar  neck  completes  the  whole 

Greek-sculpture-bafHing  body !     Do  I  see  ? 

Can  I  observe  ?     You  wait  next  word  to  come  ? 

Well,  wait  and  want !  since  no  one  blight  I  bid 

Consume  one  least  perfection.     Each  and  all, 

As  they  are  rightly  shocking  now  to  me. 

So  may  they  still  continue  !     Value  them  ? 

A)',  as  the  vender  knows  the  money-worth 

Of  liis  Greek  statue,  fools  aspire  to  buy, 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  579 

And  he  to  see  the  back  of !     Let  us  laugh  ! 
You  have  absolved  me  from  my  sin  at  least ! 
You  stand  stout,  strong,  in  the  rude  health  of  hate, 
No  touch  of  the  tame  timid  nullity 
My  cowardice,  forsooth,  has  practised  on  ! 
Ay,  while  you  seemed  to  hint  some  fine  fifth  act 
Of  tragedy  should  freeze  blood,  end  the  farce, 
I  never  doubted  all  was  joke.     I  kept, 
May  be,  an  eye  alert  on  paragraphs, 
Newspaper-notice,  —  let  no  inquest  slip, 
Accident,  disappearance  :  sound  and  safe 
Were  you,  my  victim,  not  of  mind  to  die  ! 
So,  my  worst  fancy  that  could  spoil  the  smooth 
Of  pillow,  and  arrest  descent  of  sleep 
Was  '  Itito  what  dim  hole  can  she  have  dived, 
She  a7id  her  wrongs,  her  woe  thafs  wearing  flesh 
And  blood  away  ?  "     Whereas,  see,  sorrow  swells  ! 
Or,  fattened,  fulsome,  have  you  fed  on  me, 
Sucked  out  my  substance  ?     How  much  gloss,  I  pray, 
O'ei'bloomed  those  hair-swathes  when  there  crept  from 
you 


580  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

To  me  that  craze,  else  unaccountable, 

Which  urged  me  to  contest  our  county-seat 

With  whom  but  my  own  brother's  nominee  ? 

Did  that  mouth's  pulp  glow  ruby  from  carmine 

While  I  misused  my  moment,  pushed,  —  one  word,  — 

One  hair's  breadth  more  of  gesture,  —  idiot-like 

Past  passion,  floundered  on  to  the  grotesque, 

And  lost  the  heiress  in  a  grin  ?     At  least, 

You  made  no  such  mistake  !     You  tickled  fish. 

Landed  your  prize  the  true  artistic  way ! 

How  did  the  smug  young  curate  rise  to  tune 

Of  *  Friend,  a  fatal  fact  divides  us  !    Love 

Suits  me  no  longer  !    I  have  suffered  shame. 

Betrayal :  past  is  past ;  the  future — yours  — 

Shall  never  be  contaminate  by  mine  ! 

I  might  have  spared  me  this  cojifession,  not 

—  O,  never  by  some  hideouscst  of  lies. 

Easy,  impenetrable  !    No  I  but  say, 

By  just  the  quiet  answer —  '''  I  am  cold." 

Falsehood  avaunt,  each  shadow  of  thee,  hence  ! 

Had  happier  fortune  willed  .  .  .  but  dreams  are  vain  I 


THE  INN  ALBU?.T.  5S1 

N'ow,  leave  me — yes,  for  pity  s  sake  T     Aha, 

Who  fails  to  see  the  curate  as  his  face 

Reddened  and  whitened,  wanted  handkerchief 

At  wrinkhng  brow  and  twinkhng  eye,  until 

Out  burst  the  proper  '  Angel,  whoin  the  fiend 

Has  thought  to  smirch,  —  thy  whiteness,  at  one  wipe 

Of  holy  cambric,  shall  disgrace  the  swan  ! 

Mine  be  the  task '  .  .  .  and  so  forth  !     Fool  ?  not  he  ! 

Cunning  in  flavors,  rather !     What  but  sour 

Suspected  makes  the  sweetness  doubly  —  sweet  ? 

And  what  stings  love  from  faint  to  flamboyant 

But  the  fear-sprinkle  ?     Even  hon^or  helps  — 

'  Lovers  fla?ne  in  me  by  such  recited  wrong 

Drenched,    quenched,    indeed 'I     It    burns    the  fi.ercelier 

thejice  I ' 
Why,  I  have  known  men  never  love  their  wives 
Till  somebody  —  myself,  suppose  —  had  '  drenc/ied 
And  quenched  love,'  so  the  blockheads  whined  :  as  if 
The  fluid  fire  that  lifts  the  torpid  limb 
Were  a  wrong  done  to  palsy.     But  I  thrilled 
No  palsied  person  :  half  my  age,  or  less 


582  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

The  curate  v/as,  I'll  wager :  o'er  young  blood 
Your  beauty  triumphed  !     Eh,  but  —  was  it  ha  i 
Then,  it  was  he,  I  heard  of !     None  beside  ! 
How  frank  you  were  about  the  audacious  boy 
Who  fell  upon  you  like  a  thunderbolt  — 
Passion  and  protestation !     He  it  was 
Reserved  171  petto  !    Ay,  and  *  rich  '  beside  — 
'  Jikh  '  —  how  supremely  did  disdain  curl  nose ! 
All  that  I  heard  was  —  '  wedded  to  a  priest ;  ' 
Informants  sunk  youth,  riches  and  the  rest. 
And  so  my  lav/less  love  disparted  loves. 
That  loves  m.ight  come  together  with  a  rush  ! 
Surel}^  this  last  achievement  sucked  me  dr}'- : 
Indeed,  that  way  my  wits  went !     Mistress-qu^een, 
Be  merciful,  and  let  your  subject  slink 
Into  dark  safety !     He's  a  beggar,  see  — 
Do  not  turn  back  his  ship,  Australia-bound, 
And  bid  her  land  him  right  amid  some  crowd 
Of  creditors,  assembled  by  your  curse  ! 
Don't  cause  tlie  very  rope  to  crack  (j'ou  can  !) 
Whereon  he  spends  his  last  (friend's)  sixpence,  just 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  5 S3 

The  moment  when  he  hoped  to  hang  himself ! 
Be  satisfied  you  beat  him  !  " 

She  replies  — 

"  Beat  him  !     I  do.     To  all  that  you  confess 

Of  abject  failure,  I  extend  belief. 

Your  very  face  confirms  it :  God  is  just ! 

Let  my  face  —  fix  your  eyes  !  —  in  turn  confirm 

What  I  shall  sa3^     All-abject's  but  half  truth  ; 

Add  to  all-abject  knave  as  perfect  fool ! 

So  is  it  you  probed  human  nature,  so 

Prognosticated  of  me  ?     Lay  these  words 

To  heart  then,  or  where  God  meant  heart  should  lurk ! 

That  moment  when  you  first  revealed  yourself, 

My  simple  impulse  prompted  —  end  forthwith 

The  ruin  of  a  life  uprooted  thus 

To  surely  perish  !     How  should  such  a  tree 

Henceforward  balk  the  wind  of  its  worst  sport. 

Fail  to  go  falling  deeper,  falling  down 

From  sin  to  sin  until  some  depth  were  reached 


5^4  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Doomed  to  the  weakest  by  the  wickedest 
Of  weak  and  wicked  human  kind  ?     But  when, 
That  self-display  made  absolute,  —  behold 
A  new  revealment !  —  round  you  pleased  to  veer, 
Propose  me  what  should  prompt  annul  the  past, 
Make  me  '  amends  by  7narrlage '  —  in  your  phrase, 
Incorporate  me  henceforth,  body  and  soul, 
With  soul  and  body  which  mere  brushing  past 
Brought  leprosy  upon  me  —  '  marry  '  these  ! 
Why,  then  despair  broke,  reassurance  dawned, 
Clear-sighted  was  I  that  who  hurled  contempt 
As  I  —  thank  God  !  —  at  the  contemptible. 
Was  scarce  an  utter  weakling.     Rent  away 
By  treason  from  my  rightful  pride  of  place, 
I  was  not  destined  to  the  shame  below. 
A  cleft  had  caught  me  :  I  might  perish  there. 
But  thence  to  be  dislodged  and  whirled  at  last 
Where  the  black  torrent  sweeps  the  sewage  —  no  ! 
*  jBare  breast  be  on  hard  rock,'  laughed  out  my  soul 
In  gratitude,  '  howe'cr  rock's  grip  may  grind  / 
The  plain,  rough,  wretched  holdfast  shall  sicfice 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  585 

This  wreck  of  me  ! '     The  wind,  —  I  broke  in  bloom 

At  passage  of,  —  whicli  stripped  me  bole  and  branch, 

Twisted  me  up  and  tossed  me  here,  —  turns  back 

And,  playful  ever,  would  replant  the  spoil  ? 

Be  satisfied,  not  one  least  leaf  that's  mine 

Shall  henceforth  help  wind's  sport  to  exercise  ! 

Rather  I  give  such  remnant  to  the  rock 

Wliich  never  dreamed  a  straw  would  settle  there. 

Rock  may  not  thank  me,  may  not  feel  my  breast, 

Even:  enough  that  /feel,  hard  and  cold, 

Its  safety  my  salvation.     Safe  and  saved, 

I  lived,  live.     When  the  tempter  shall  persuade 

His  prey  to  slip  down,  slide  off,  trust  the  wind,  — 

Now  that  I  know  if  God  or  Satan  be 

Prince  of  the  Power  of  the  Air,  —  then,  then,  indeed, 

Let  my  life  end  and  degradation  too  ! " 

"  Good !  "   he  smiles,    "  true    Lord    Byron  !    '  Tree  and 

rock : ' 
'  J?ock '  —  there's  advancement !     He's  at  first  a  youtli, 
Rich,  worthless  therefore  ;  next  he  grows  a  priest : 


586  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Youth,  riches  prove  a  notable  resource, 
When  to  leave  me  for  their  possessor  gluts 
Malice  abundantly  ;  and  now,  last  change. 
The  3'oung  rich  parson  represents  a  rock 
—  Bloodstone,  no  doubt.     He's  evangelical  ? 
Your  Ritualists  prefer  the  Church  for  spouse  !  " 

She  speaks.     "  I  have  a  story  to  relate. 

There  was  a  parish-priest,  my  father  knew. 

Elderly,  poor :  I  used  to  pity  him 

Before  I  learned  what  woes  are  pity-worth. 

Elderly  was  grown  old  now,  scanty  means 

Were  straitening  fast  to  poverty,  beside 

The  ailments  which  await  in  such  a  case. 

Limited  every  way,  a  perfect  man 

Within  the  bounds  built  up  and  up  since  birth 

Breast-high  about  him  till  the  outside  world 

Was  blank  save  o'erhead  one  blue  bit  of  sky  — 

Faith  :  he  had  faith  in  dogma,  small  or  great, 

As  in  the  fact  that  if  he  clave  his  skull 

He'd  find  a  brain  there  :  such  a  fact  who  proves 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  587 

No  falsehood  by  experiment  at  price 

Of  soul  and  body  ?     The  one  rule  of  life 

Delivered  him  in  childhood  was  *  Obey  ! 

Labor  I'     He  had  obeyed  and  labored  —  tame, 

True  to  the  mill-track  blinked  on  from  above. 

Some  scholarship  he  may  have  gained  in  youth  : 

Gone  —  dropt  or  flung  behind.     Some  blossom-flake, 

Spring's  boon,  descends  on  every  vernal  head, 

I  used  to  think  ;  but  January  joins 

December,  as  his  year  had  known  no  j\Iay 

Trouble  its  snow-deposit,  —  cold  and  old  ! 

I  heard  it  was  his  will  to  take  a  wife, 

A  helpmate.     Duty  bade  him  tend  and  teach  — 

How  ?  with  experience  null,  nor  sympathy 

Abundant,  —  while  himself  worked  dogma  dead, 

Wlao  would  play  ministrant  to  sickness,  age, 

Womankind,  childhood  ?     These  demand  a  wife, 

Supply  the  want,  then  !  theirs  the  wife  ;  for  him  — 

No  coarsest  sample  of  the  proper  sex 

But  would  have  served  his  purpose  equally 

With  God's  own  angel,  — let  but  knowledge  match 


588  THE   INN  ALBUM. 

Her  coarseness :  zeal  does  only  half  the  work. 
I  saw  this  —  knew  the  purblind  honest  drudge 
Was  wearing  out  his  simple  blameless  life, 
And  wanted  help  beneath  a  burden  —  borne 
To  treasure-house  or  dust-heap,  what  cared  I  ? 
Partner  he  needed  :  I  proposed  myself. 
Nor  much  surprised  him  —  dut}'  was  so  clear  ! 
Gratitude  ?     What  for  ?     Gain  of  Paradise  — 
Escape,  perhaps,  from  the  dire  penalty 
Of  who  hides  talent  in  a  napkin  !     No. 
His  scruple  was  —  should  I  be  strong  enough 

—  In  body  ?  since  of  weakness  in  the  mind, 
Weariness  in  the  heart — what  fear  of  these  ? 
Pie  took  me  as  these  Arctic  voyagers 

Take  an  aspirant  to  their  toil  and  pain : 

Can  he  endure  them  ?  —  that's  the  point,  and  not 

—  Will  he  ?     Who  would  not,  rather  !     Whereupon, 
I  pleaded  far  more  earnestly  for  leave 

To  give  myself  away,  than  you  to  gain 

What  you  called  priceless  till  you  gained  the  heart 

And  soul  and  body !  which,  as  beggars  serve 


THE  INN  ALBUM. 


589 


Extorted  alms,  you  straightway  spat  upon. 

Not  so  my  husband,  —  for  I  gained  my  suit, 

And  had  my  value  put  at  once  to  proof. 

Ask  him  !     These  four  years  I  have  died  away 

In  village  life.     The  village  ?     Ugliness 

At  best  and  filthiness  at  worst  —  inside. 

Outside,  sterility  —  earth  sown  with  salt. 

Or  what  keeps  even  grass  from  growing  fresh. 

The  life  ?     I  teacia  the  poor  and  learn,  myself, 

That  commonplace  to  such  stupidity 

Is  all-recondite.     Being  brutalized 

Their  true  need  is  brute  language,  cheeiy  grunts 

And  kindly  duckings,  no  articulate 

Nonsense  that's  elsewhere  knowledge.     Tend  the  sick, 

Sickened  myself  at  pig  perversity, 

Cat-craft,  dog-snarling,  —  may  be,  snapping  "... 

"  Brief  — 
You  eat  that  root  of  bitterness  called  Man 
—  Raw :  I  prefer  it  cooked,  with  social  sauce  ! 
So,  he  was  not  the  rich  youth  after  all ! 


59 o  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Well,  I  mistook.     But  somewhere  needs  must  be 
The  compensation.     If  not  young  nor  rich  "... 

"  You  interrupt !  " 

"  Because  you've  daubed  enough 
Bistre  for  background.     Play  the  artist  now, 
Produce  your  figure  well-relieved  in  front ! 
The  contrast  —  do  not  I  anticijDate  ? 
Though  neither  rich  nor  young  —  what  then  ?     'Tis  all 
Forgotten,  all  this  ignobility. 
In  the  dear  home,  the  darling  word,  the  smile, 
The  something  sweeter  "... 

"Yes,  you  interrupt. 
I  have  my  purpose  and  proceed.     Who  lives 
With  beasts  assumes  beast-nature,  look  and  voice, 
And,  much  more,  thought,  —  for  beasts  think.     Selfish- 
ness 
In  us  met  selfishness  in  them,  deserved 
Such  answer  as  it  gained.     My  husband,  bent 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  591 

On  saving  his  o\vn  soul  by  saving  theirs,  — 

They,  bent  on  being  saved  if  saving  soul 

Included  body's  getting  bread  and  cheese 

Somehow  in  life  and  somehow  after  death, — 

Both  parties  were  alike  in  the  same  boat, 

One  danger,  therefore  one  equality. 

Safety  induces  culture :  culture  seeks 

To  institute,  extend  and  multiply 

The  difference  between  safe  man  and  man. 

Able  to  live  alone  now ;  progress  means 

Wliat  but  abandonment  of  fellowship  ? 

We  were  in  common  danger,  still  stuck  close. 

No  new  books,  —  were  the  old  ones  mastered  yet  ? 

No  pictures  and  no  music :  these  divert 

—  What  from  ?  the  staving  danger  off !     You  paint 

The  waterspout  above,  you  set  to  words 

The  roaring  of  the  tempest  round  you  ?     Thanks ! 

Amusement  ?     Talk  at  end  of  the  tired  day 

Of  the  more  tiresome  morrow  !     I  transcribed 

The  page  on  page  of  sermon-scrawlings  —  stopped 

My  intellectual  eye  to  sense  and  sound  — 


592  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Vainly :  the  sound  and  sense  would  penetrate 

To  brain,  and  plague  there  in  despite  of  me, 

Maddened  to  know  more  moral  good  were  done 

Had  we  two  simiDl}^  sallied  forth  and  preached 

r  the  '  Green  '  they  call  their  grimy,  —  I  with  twang 

Of  long-disused  guitar,  —  with  cut  and  slash 

Of  much  misvalued  horsewhip  he,  —  to  bid 

The  peaceable  come  dance,  the  peace-breaker 

Pay  in  his  person  !     Whereas  —  Heaven  and  Hell, 

Excite  with  that,  restrain  with  this  !  —  so  dealt 

His  drugs  my  husband ;  as  he  dosed  himself. 

He  drenched  his  cattle  :  and,  for  all  my  part 

Was  just  to  dub  the  mortar,  never  fear 

But  drugs,  hand  pestled  at,  have  poisoned  nose ! 

Heaven  he  let  pass,  left  wisely  undescribed  : 

As  applicable  therefore  to  the  sleep 

I  want,  that  knows  no  waking  —  as  to  what's 

Conceived  of  as  the  proper  prize  to  tempt 

Souls  less  world-weary  :  there,  no  fault  to  find  ! 

But  Hell  he  m.ade  explicit.     After  death, 

Life  :  man  created  new,  ingeniously 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  593 

Perfect  for  a  vindictive  purpose  now 
That  man,  first  fashioned  in  beneficence, 
Was  proved  a  faikn-e  ]  intellect  at  length 
Replacing  old  obtuseness,  memory- 
Made  mindful  of  delinquent's  bygone  deeds 
Now  that  remorse  was  vain,  which  life-long  lay 
Dormant  when  lesson  might  be  laid  to  heart ; 
New  gift  of  observation  up  and  down 
And  round  man's  self,  new  power  to  apprehend 
Each  necessary  consequence  of  act 
In  man  for  well  or  ill  —  things  obsolete  — 
Just  granted  to  supplant  the  idiotcy 
Man's  only  guide  while  act  was  yet  to  choose, 
And  ill  or  well  momentously  its  fruit ; 
A  faculty  of  immense  suffering 
Conferred  on  mind  and  body,  —  mind,  erewhile 
Unvisited  by  one  compunctious  dream 
During  sin's  drunken  slumber,  startled  up. 
Stung  through  and  through  by  sin's  significance 
Now  that  the  holy  was  abolished  —  just 
As  body  which,  alive,  broke  down  beneath 


594  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Knowledge,  lay  helpless  in  tlie  path  to  good, 

Failed  to  accomplish  aught  legitimate. 

Achieve  aught  worth)',  —  which  grew  old  in  youth, 

And  at  its  longest  fell  a  cut-down  flower,  — 

Dying,  this  too  revived  by  miracle 

To  bear  no  end  of  burden  now  that  back 

Supported  torture  to  no  use  at  all, 

And  live  imperishably  potent  —  since 

Life's  potency  was  impotent  to  ward 

One  plague  off  which  made  earth  a  hell  before. 

This  doctrine,  which  one  healthy  view  of  things, 

One  sane  sight  of  the  general  ordinance  — 

Nature,  —  and  its  particular  object,  —  man,  — 

Which  one  mere  eye-cast  at  the  character 

Of  Who  made  these  and  gave  man  sense  to  boot, 

Had  dissipated  once  and  evermore,  — 

This  doctrine  I  have  dosed  our  flock  withal. 

Why  ?     Because  none  believed  it.     They  desire 

Such  Heaven  and  dread  such  Hell,  whom  every  day 

"he  alehouse  tempts  from  one,  a  dog-fight  bids 

Defy  the  other  ?     All  tlie  harm  is  done 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  S95 

Ourselves  —  done  my  poor  husband  who  in  youth 
Perhaps  read  Dickens,  done  myself  who  still 
Could  play  both  Bach  and  Brahms.    Such  life  I  lead  — 
Thanks  to  you,  knave  !     You  learn  its  quality  — 
Thanl<:s  to  me,  fool !  " 


He  eyes  her  earnestly, 


But  she  continues. 


"  —  Life  which,  thanks  once  more 
To  you,  arch-knave  as  exquisitest  tool, 
I  acquiescingly  —  I  gratefully 
Take  back  again  to  heart !  and  hence  this  speech 
Which  yesterday  had  spared  you.     Four  years  long 
Life  —  I  began  to  find  intolerable, 
Only  this  moment.     Ere  your  entry  just, 
The  leap  of  heart  which  answered,  spite  of  me, 
A  friend's  first  summons,  first  provocative 
Authoritative,  nay,  compulsive  call 
To  quit  —  though  for  a  single  day  —  my  house 
Of  bondage  —  made  return  seem  horrible. 


596  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

I  heard  again  a  human  lucid  laugh 

All  trust,  no  fear  j  again  saw  earth  pursue 

Its  narrow  busy  way  amid  small  cares, 

Smaller  contentments,  much  weeds,  some  few  flowers, 

Never  suspicious  of  a  thunderbolt 

Avenging  presently  each  daisy's  death. 

I  recognized  the  beech-tree,  knew  the  thrush 

Repeated  his  old  music-phrase,  —  all  right, 

How  wrong  was  I,  then  !     But  your  entry  broke 

Illusion,  bade  me  back  1o  bounds  at  once. 

I  honestly  submit  my  soul :  which  sprang 

At  love,  and  losing  love  lies  signed  and  sealed 

^Failure.''     No  love  more  ?  then,  no  beauty  more 

Which  tends  to  breed  love  !     Purify  my  powers, 

Effortless  till  some  other  world  procure 

Some  other  chance  of  prize  !  or,  if  none  be,  — 

Nor  second  world  nor  chance,  —  undesecrate 

Die  then  this  aftergrowth  of  heart,  surmised 

Wlaere  May's  precipitation  left  June  blank  ! 

Better  have  failed  in  the  high  aim,  as  I, 

Than  vulgarly  in  the  low  aim  succeed 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  597 

As,  God  be  thanked,  I  do  not !     Ugliness 
Had  I  called  beauty,  falsehood  —  truth,  and  you 
My  lover  !     No  —  this  earth's  unchanged  for  me, 
Ey  his  enchantment  ^vhom  God  made  the  Prince 
O'  the  Power  o'  the  Air,  into  a  Heaven  :  there  is 
Heaven,  since  there  is  Heaven's  simulation  —  earth  ; 
I  sit  possessed  in  patience  ;  prison-roof 
Shall  break  one  day  and  Heaven  beam  overhead !  " 

His  smile  is  done  with  ;  he  speaks  bitterh\ 

"  Take  my  congratulations,  and  peiTnit 
I  v.ish  myself  had  proved  as  teachable  ! 
—  Or,  no  !  until  you  taught  me,  could  I  learn 
A  lesson  from  experience  ne'er  till  now 
Conceded  ?     Please  you  listen  while  I  show 
How  thoroughly  you  estimate  my  worth 
And  yours  —  the  immeasurably  superior !     I 
Believed  at  least  in  one  thing,  first  to  last,  — 
Your  love  to  me  :  I  was  the  vile,  and  you 
The  precious  ;  I  abused  you,  I  betraj'ed, 


598  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

But  doubted  —  never  !     Why  else  go  my  way 

Judas-like  plodding  to  this  Potter's  Field 

Where  fate  now  finds  me  ?     What  has  dinned  my  ear 

And  dogged  my  step  ?     The  spectre  with  the  shriek 

'  Such  she  was,  such  were  you,  7ohose  puiiishmeiit 

Is  Just  !^     And  such  she  was  not,  all  the  wlaile  ! 

She  never  owned  a  love  to  outrage,  faith 

To  pay  with  falsehood  !     For,  myself  know  this  — 

Love  once  and  you  love  always.     Why,  it's  down 

Here  in  the  Album  :  every  lover  knows 

Love  may  use  hate  but  —  turn  to  hate,  itself  — 

Turn  even  to  indifference  —  no,  indeed! 

Well,  I  have  been  spell-bound,  deluded  like 

The  witless  negro  by  the  Obeah-man 

Who  bids  him  wither :  so,  his  eye  grows  dim, 

His  arm  slack,  arrow  misses  aim  and  spear 

Goes  wandering  wide,  —  and  all  the  woe  because 

He  proved  untrue  to  Fetish,  who,  he  finds. 

Was  just  a  feather-phantom !     I  wronged  love. 

Am  ruined,  —  and  there  was  no  love  to  wrong !  " 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  599 

"  No  love  ?     Ah,  dead  love  !     I  invoke  thy  ghost 

To  show  the  murderer  where  thy  heart  poured  life 

At  summons  of  the  stroke  he  doubts  was  dealt 

On  pasteboard  and  pretence  !     Not  love,  my  love ! 

I  changed  for  you  the  very  laws  of  life  : 

Made  you  the  standard  of  all  right,  all  fair. 

No  genius  but  you  could  have  been,  no  sage, 

No  sufferer  —  which  is  grandest  —  for  the  truth  ! 

My  hero  — where  the  heroic  only  hid 

To  burst  from  hiding,  brighten  earth  one  day ! 

Age  and  decline  were  man's  maturity  ; 

Face,   form   were   nature's    type;    more    grace,   more 

strength. 
What  had  they  been  but  just  superfluous  gauds, 
Lawless  divergence  ?     I  have  danced  through  day, 
On  tiptoe  at  the  music  of  a  word. 
Have  wondered  vdiere  was  darkness  gone  as  night 
Burst  out  in  stars  at  brilliance  of  a  smile  ! 
Lonely,  I  placed  the  chair  to  help  me  seat 
Your  fancied  presence  ;  in  companionship, 
I  kept  my  finger  constant  to  your  glove 


■'< 


/ni 


6oo  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Glued  to  my  breast ;  then  —  where  was  all  the  world  ? 
I    schemed  —  not   dreamed  —  how   I  might  die   some 

death 
Should  save  your  finger  aching !     Who  creates 
Destroys,  he  only:  I  had  laughed  to  scorn 
Whatever  angel  tried  to  shake  my  faith 
And  make  you  seem  unworthy :  you  yourself 
Only  could  do  that !     With  a  touch  't\vas  done. 
'  Give  me  all,  tnist  me  wholly  /'     At  the  word, 
I  did  give,  I  did  trust  —  and  thereupon 
The  touch  did  follow.     All,  the  quiet  smile, 
The  masterfully  folded  arm  in  arm, 
As  trick  obtained  its  triumph  one  time  more ! 
In  turn,  my  soul  too  triumphs  in  defeat : 
Treason  like  faith  moves  mountains  :  love  is  gone  ! " 

He  paces  to  and  fro,  stops,  stands  quite  close, 
And  calls  her  by  her  name.     Then  — 

"  God  forgives  { 
Forgive  you,  delegate  of  God,  brought  near 
As  never  priest  could  bring  him  to  this  soul 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  60 1 

That  prays  you  both  —  forgive  me  !     I  abase  — 

Know  myself  mad  and  monstrous  utterly 

In  all  I  did  that  moment ;  but  as  God 

Gives  me  this  knowledge  —  heart  to  feel  and  tongue 

To  testify  —  so  be  you  gracious  too  ! 

Judge  no  man  by  the  solitary  work 

Of  —  well,  they  do  say  and  I  can  believe  — 

The  devil  in  him  :  his,  the  moment,  —  mine 

The  life  —  your  life  !  " 

He  names  her  name  again 
"You  were  just — merciful  as  just,  you  were 
In  giving  me  no  respite  :  punishment 
Followed  offending.     Sane  and  sound  once  more, 
The  patient  thanks  decision,  promptitude, 
Which  flung  him  prone  and  fastened  him  from  hurt 
Haply  to  others,  surely  to  himself. 
I  Avake  and  would  not  you  had  spared  one  pang. 
.  All's  well  that  ends  well '  " 

Yet  asrain  her  name. 


6o2  THE  nViV  ALBUM. 

"  Had  you  no  fault  ?     Why  must  you  change,  forsooth, 

Parts,  why  reverse  positions,  spoil  the  play  ? 

Wh}^  did  your  nobleness  look  up  to  me, 

Not  down  on  the  ignoble  thing  confessed  ? 

Was  it  your  part  to  stoop,  or  lift  tlie  low  ? 

Wherefore  did  God  exalt  you  ?     Who  would  teach 

The  brute  man's  tameness  and  intelligence 

Must  never  drop  the  dominating  eye  : 

Wink  —  and  what  wonder  if  the  mad  fit  break. 

Followed  by  stripes  and  fasting  ?     Sound  and  sane, 

My  life,  chastised  now,  couches  at  your  foot. 

Accept,  redeem  me  !     Do  your  eyes  ask  '  How  ?  ' 

I  stand  here  penniless,  a  beggar ;  talk 

What  idle  trash  I  may,  this  final  blow 

Of  fortune  fells  me.     /disburse,  indeed, 

This  boy  his  winnings  ?  when  each  bubble  scheme 

That  danced  athwart  my  brain,  a  minute  since. 

The  worse  the  better,  —  of  repairing  straight 

My  misadventure  by  fresh  enterprise, 

Capture  of  other  boys  in  foolishness 

His  fellows,  —  when  these  fancies  fade  away 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  603 

At  first  sight  of  the  lost  so  long,  the  found 

So  late,  the  ladj^  of  my  life,  before 

Whose  presence  I,  the  lost,  am  also  found 

Incapable  of  one  least  touch  of  mean 

Expedient,  I  who  teemed  with  plot  and  wile  — 

That  family  of  snakes  your  eye  bids  flee  ! 

Listen  !     Our  troublesomest  dreams  die  off 

In  daylight :  I  awake  and  dream  is  —  where  ? 

I  rouse  up  from  the  past :  one  touch  dispels 

England  and  all  here.     I  secured  long  since 

A  certain  refuge,  solitary  home 

To  hide  in,  should  the  head  strike  work  one  day, 

The  hand  forget  its  cunning,  or  perhaps 

Society  grow  savage,  —  there  to  end 

My  life's  remainder,  which,  say  what  fools  will. 

Is  or  should  be  the  best  of  life,  —  its  fruit, 

All  tends  to,  root  and  stem  and  leaf  and  flower. 

Come  with  me,  love,  loved  once,  loved  only,  come, 

Blend  loves  there  !     Let  this  parenthetic  doubt 

Of  love,  in  me,  have  been  the  ti-ial-test 

Appointed  to  all  flesh  at  some  one  stage 


6o4  THE  INjV  album. 

Of  soul's  achievement,  —  when  the  strong  man  doubts 

His  strength,  the  good  man  Vvhether  goodness  be, 

The  artist  in  the  dark  seeks,  fails  to  find 

Vocation,  and  the  saint  forswears  his  shrine. 

What  if  the  lover  may  elude,  no  more 

Than  these,  probative  dark,  must  search  the  sky 

Vainly  for  love,  his  soul's  star  ?     But  the  orb 

Breaks  from  eclipse  :  I  breathe  again  :  I  love  ! 

Tempted,  I  fell ;  but  fallen  —  fallen  lie 

Here  at  )'our  feet,  see  !     Leave  this  poor  pretence 

Of  union  with  a  nature  and  its  needs 

Repugnant  to  your  needs  and  nature  !     Nay, 

False,  beyond  falsity  you  reprehend 

In  me,  is  such  mock  marriage  with  such  mere 

Man-mask  as  —  whom  you  witless  wrong,  beside, 

By  that  expenditure  of  heart  and  brain 

He  recks  no  more  of  than  would  yonder  tree 

If  watered  with  your  life-blood  :  rains  and  dews 

Answer  its  ends  sufficiently,  while  me 

One  drop  saves  —  sends  to  flower  and  fruit  at  last 

The  laggard  virtue  in  the  soul  which  else 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  605 

Cumbers  the  ground  !     Quicken  me  !    Call  me  yours  — 
Yours  and   the  world's  —  yours  and  the  world's    and 

God's ! 
Yes,  for  you  can,  you  only  !     Think  !     Confirm 
Your  instinct !     Say,  a  minute  since,  I  seemed 
The  castaway  you  count  me,  —  all  the  more 
Apparent  shall  the  angelic  potency 
Lift  me  from  out  perdition's  deep  of  deeps 
To  light  and  life  and  love  !  —  that's  love  for  you  — 
Love  that  already  dares  match  might  with  yours. 
You  loved  one  worthy,  —  in  your  estimate,  — 
When  time  was  ;  you  descried  the  unworthy  taint, 
And  where  was  love  then  ?     No  such  test  could  e'er 
Try  my  love  :  but  3^ou  hate  me  and  revile  ; 
Hatred,  revilement  —  had  you  these  to  bear, 
Would  you,  as  I  do,  nor  revile,  nor  hate. 
But  simply  love  on,  love  the  more,  perchance  ? 
Abide  by  your  own  proof !     '  Your  love  was  love  : 
Its  ghost  knows  no  fo}'getting  ! '     Heart  of  mine. 
Would  that  I  dared  remember !     Too  unwise 
Were  he  who  lost  a  treasure,  did  himself 


6o6  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Enlarge  upon  the  sparkling  catalogue 

Of  gems  to  her  his  queen  who  trusted  late 

The  keeper  of  her  caskets  !     Can  it  be 

That  I,  custodian  of  such  relic  still 

As  3-our  contempt  permits  me  to  retain, 

All  I  dare  hug  to  breast  is  — '  How  your  glove 

Burst  and  displayed  the  long  thin  lily-streak  ! ' 

What  may  have  followed  —  that  is  forfeit  now ! 

I  hope  the  proud  man  has  grown  humble !     True  — • 

One  grace  of  humbleness  absents  itself  — 

Silence  !  yet  love  lies  deeper  than  all  words, 

And  not  the  spoken  but  the  speechless  love 

Waits  answer  ere  I  rise  and  go  my  way." 

Whereupon,  yet  one  other  time  the  name. 

To  end  she  looks  the  large  deliberate  look. 
Even  prolongs  it  somewhat ;  then  the  soul 
Bursts  forth  in  a  clear  Inugh  that  lengthens  on, 
On,  till  —  thinned,  softened,  silvered,  one  might  say 
The  bitter  runnel  hides  itself  in  sand. 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  607 

Moistens  the  hard  gray  grimly  comic  speech. 
"  Ay  —  give  the  baffled  angler  even  yet 
His  supreme  triumph  as  he  hales  to  shore 
A  second  time  the  fish  once  'scaped  from  hook  — 
So  artfully  has  new  bait  hidden  old 
Blood-imbrued  iron  !     Ay,  no  barb's  beneath 
The  gilded  minnow  here  !     You  bid  break  trust, 
This  time,  with  who  trusts^ me,  — not  simply  bid 
Me  trust  3^ou,  me  who  ruined  but  myself, 
In  trusting  but  myself  !     Since,  thanks  to  you, 
I  know  the  feel  of  sin  and  shame, — be  sure, 
I  shall  obey  you  and  impose  them  both 
On  one  who  happens  to  be  ignorant 
Although  my  husband  —  for  the  lure  is  love, 
Your  love  !     Try  other  tackle,  fisher-friend ! 
Repentance,  exiDiation,  hopes  and  fears. 
What  you  had  been,  may  yet  be,  would  I  but 
Prove  helpmate  to  my  hero  —  one  and  all 
These  silks  and  worsteds  round  the  hook,  seduce 
Hardly  the  late  torn  throat  and  mangled  tongue. 
Pack  up,  I  pray,  the  whole  assortment  prompt ! 


6o8  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Who  wonders  at  variety  of  wile 

In  the  Arch-cheat  ?     You  are  the  Adversary ! 

Your  fate  is  of  5'Our  choosing :  have  your  choice. 

Wander  the  world,  —  God  has  some  end  to  serve, 

Ere  he  suppress  you  !     He  v/aits  :  I  endure, 

But  interpose  no  finger-tip,  forsooth. 

To  stop  y^ur  passage  to  the  pit.     Enough 

That  I  am  stable,  uninvolved  by  you 

In  the  rush  downward :  free  I  gaze  and  fixed ; 

Your  smiles,  your  tears,  prayers,  curses  move  alike 

My  crowned  contempt.    You  kneel  ?    Prostrate  yourself ! 

To  eartlx,  and  would  the  whole  world  saw  you  there  ! " 

Whereupon  —  "All  right !  "  carelessly  begins 
Somebody  from  outside,  who  mounts  the  stair, 
And  sends  his  voice  for  herald  of  approach : 
Half  in  half  out  the  doorway  as  the  door 
Gives  way  to  push. 

"  Old  fellow,  all's  no  good  ! 
The  train's  your  portion  !     Lay  the  blame  on  me  ! 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  609 

I'm  no  diplomatist,  and  Bismarck's  self 
Had  hardly  braved  the  awful  Aunt  at  broach 
Of  proposition  —  so  has  world-repute 
Preceded  the  illustrious  stranger  ?     Ah  ! "  — 

Quick  the  voice  changes  to  astonishment, 

Then  horror,  as  the  youth  stops,  sees,  and  knows. 

The  man  who  knelt  starts  up  from  kneeling,  stands 
Moving  no  muscle,  and  confronts  the  stare. 

The  lady's  proud  pale  queenliness  of  scorn 
Buries  with  one  red  outbreak  throat  and  brow  — 
Then  her  great  eyes  that  turned  so  quick,  become 
Intenser  :  quail  at  gaze,  not  they  indeed ! 


fiio  THE  INN  ALBUM. 


V. 

It  is  the  young  man  shatters  silence  first. 

"  Well,  my  lord  —  for  indeed  my  lord  you  are, 

I  little  guessed  how  rightly  —  thisjast  proof 

Of  lordship-paramount  confounds  too  much 

My  simple  head-piece  !     Let's  see  how  we  stand 

Each  to  the  other !  how  we  stood  i'  the  game 

Of  life  an  hour  ago,  —  the  magpies,  stile, 

And  oak-tree  witnessed.      Truth  exchanged  for  truth  ■ 

My  lord  confessed  his  four-years-old  affair  — 

How  he  seduced  and  then  forsook  the  girl 

Who  married  somebody  and  left  him  sad. 

My  pitiful  experience  was  —  I  loved 

A  girl  whose  gown's  hem  had  I  dared  to  touch 

My  finger  would  have  failed  me,  palsy-fixed  ; 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  6ii 

She  left  me,  sad  enough,  to  many  —  whom  ? 
A  better  man,  —  then  possibly  not  you ! 
How  does  the  game  stand ?     Who  is  who  and  what 
Is  what,  o'  the  board  now,  since  an  hour  went  by  ? 
My  lord's  '  seduced,  forsaken,  sacrificed^  — 
Starts  up,  my  lord's  familiar  instrument. 
Associate  and  accomplice,  mistress-slave  — 
Shares  his  adventure,  follows  on  the  sly, 
—  Ay,  and  since  '  bag  and  baggage  '  is  a  phrase  — 
Baggage  lay  hid  in  carpet-bag  belike, 
Was  but  unpadlocked  when  occasion  came 
For  holding  council,  since  my  back  was  turned, 
On  how  invent  ten  thousand  pounds  which,  paid, 
Would  lure  the  winner  to  lose  twenty  more, 
Beside  refunding  these  !     Why  else  allow 
The  fool  to  gain  them  ?     So  displays  herself 
The  lady  whom  my  heart  believed  —  oh  laugh  ! 
Noble  and  pure  :  whom  my  heart  loved  at  once. 
And  who  at  once  did  speak  truth  when  she  said 
*  /  am  not  mine  7iow  hut  another^ s  '  —  thus 
Being  that  other's  !     Devil's  marriage,  eh  ? 


6l2  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

''My  lie  weds  thine  till  lucre  us  do  part?  ^ 

But  pity  me  the  snobbish  simpleton, 

You  two  aristocratic  tip-top  swells 

At  swindling?     Quits,  I  cry!     Decamp  content 

With  skin  I'm  peeled  of :  do  not  strip  bones  bare  — 

As  that  you  could,  I  have  no  doubt  at  all ! 

0  you  two  rare  ones  !     Male  and  female,  Sir ! 

The  male  there  smirked  this  morning,  '  Co7ne,  my  boy  — 
Out  with  it !     Yoii've  been  crossed  in  love,  I  think  : 

1  recognize  the  lover's  hangdog  look  ; 

Make  a  cleafi  breast  and  match  my  coiifidence, 

For,  rilbefra7ik,  I  too  have  had  my  fling, 

Am  punished  for  my  fault,  and  smart  enough  ! 

Where  now  the  victim  hides  her  head,  God  knoivs  ! ' 

Here  loomed  her  head,  life-large,  the  devil  knew ! 

Look  out,  Salvini !    Here's  your  man,  your  match  ! 

He  and  I  sat  applauding,  stall  by  stall, 

Last  Monday  —  *  Here's  Othello '  was  our  word, 

'But  Where's  lago  ? '     Where  ?     Why,  there  !    And  now 

The  fellow-artist,  female  specimen  — 

Oh,  lady,  you  must  needs  describe  yourself ! 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  613 

He's  great  in  art,  but  you  —  how  greater  still 

—  (If  I  can  riglitly,  out  of  all  I  learned, 

Apply  one  bit  of  Latin  that  assures 

*  Art  means  just  arfs  concealment ' )  —  tower  yourself 

For  he  stands  plainly  visible  henceforth  — 

Liar  and_scairip:  while  you,  in  artistry 

Prove  so  consummate  —  or  I  prove  perhaps 

So  absolute  an  ass  —  that  —  either  way  — 

You  still  do  seem  to  me  Vv'ho  worshipped  you, 

And  see  you  take  the  homage  of  this  man, 

Your  master,  who  played  slave  and  knelt,  no  doubt, 

Before  a  mistress  in  his  very  craft  .  .  . 

Well,  take  the  fact,  I  nor  believe  my  eyes, 

Nor  trust  my  understanding  I     Still  you  seem 

Noble  and  pure  as  when  we  had  the  talk 

Under  the  tower,  beneath  the  trees,  that  day. 

And  there's  the  key  explains  the  secret :  down 

He  knelt  to  ask  your  leave  to  rise  a  grade 

I'  the  mystery  of  humbug  :  well  he  may  ! 

For  how  you  beat  him  !     Half  an  hour  ago, 

I  held  your  master  for  my  best  of  friends  ; 


6 14  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

And  now  I  hate  him !     Four  years  since,  you  seemed 
My  heart's  one  love  :  well,  and  you  so  remain  ! 
What's  he  to  you  in  craft  ?  " 

She  looks  him  through. 

"  My  friend,  'tis  just  that  friendship  have  its  turn  — 

Interrogate  thus  me  whom  one,  of  foes 

The  worst,  has  questioned  and  is  answered  by. 

Take  you  as  frank  an  answer !  answers  both 

Begin  alike  so  far,  divergent  soon 

World-wide  —  I  own  superiority 

Over  you,  over  him.     As  him  I  searched, 

So  do  you  stand  seen  through  and  through  by  me 

Who,  this  time,  proud,  report  your  cr}'stal  shrines 

A  dew-drop,  plain  as  amber  prisons  round 

A  spider  in  the  hollow  heart  his  house  ! 

Nowise  are  you  that  thing  my  fancy  feared 

When  out  you  stepped  on  me,  a  minute  since, 

—  This  man's  confederate !  no,  you  step  not  thus 

Obsequiously  at  beck  and  call  to  help 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  515 

At  need  some  second  scheme,  and  supplement 

Guile  by  force,  use  my  shame  to  pinion  me 

Ficm  struggle  and  escape  !     I  fancied  that ! 

Forgive  me  !     Only  by  strange  chance,  —  most  strange 

In  even  this  strange  world,  —  you  enter  now, 

Obtain  your  knowledge.     ]\Ie  you  have  not  wronged 

Who  never  wTonged  you  —  least  of  all,  my  friend, 

That  day  beneath  the  College  tower  and  trees, 

When  I  refused  to  say,  —  '  not  friend  but,  love  ! ' 

Had  I  been  found  as  free  as  air  when  first 

We  met,  I  scarcely  could  have  loved  you.     No  — 

For  where  was  that  in  you  which  claimed  return 

Of  love  ?     i\Iy  eyes  were  all  too  weak  to  probe 

This  other's  seeming,  but  that_seeming^  loved 

The  soul  in  me,  and  lied[ —  I  know  too  late  ! 

While  your  truth  was  trutia  :  and  I  knew  at  once 

My  power  was  just  my  beaut}'  —  bear  tlie  vrord  — 

As  I  must  bear,  of  all  my  qualities. 

To  name  the  poorest  one  that  sen-es  my  soul 

And  simulates  myself !     So  much  in  me 

You  loved,  I  know :  the  something  that's  beneath 


6i6  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Heard  not  your  call,  —  uncalled,  no  answer  comes  I 

For,  since  in  eveiy  love,  or  soon  or  late 

Soul  must  awake  and  seek  out  soul  for  soul, 

Yours,  overlooking  mine  then,  would,  some  day, 

Take  flight  to  find  some  other  ;  so  it  proved  — 

Missing  me,  you  were  ready  for  this  man. 

I  apprehend  the  whole  relation  :  his  — 

The  soul  wherein  you  saw  your  t}^pe  of  worth 

At  once,  true  object  of  your  tribute.     Well 

Might  I  refuse  such  half-heart's  homage !     Love 

Divining,  had  assured  you  I  no  more 

Stand  his  participant  in  infamy 

'J'han  you  —  I  need  no  love  to  recognize 

As  simply  dupe  and  nowise  fellow-cheat ! 

Therefore  accept  one  last  f riend's-word,  —  your  friend's, 

All  men's  friend,  save  a  felon's.     Ravel  out 

The  bad  embroilment  howsoe'er  you  may, 

Distribute  as  it  please  3'ou  praise  or  blame 

To  me  —  so  you  but  fling  this  mockeiy  far  — 

Renounce  this  rag-and-feather  hero-sham, 

This  poodle  dipt  to  pattern,  lion-like  ! 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  617 

Throw  him  his  thousands  back,  and  lay  to  heart 


The  lesson  I  was  sent,  —  if  man  discerned 

Ever  God's  message,  —  just  to  teach.     I  judge  — 

Far  to  another  issue  than  could  dream 

Your  cousin,  —  younger,  fairer,  as  befits  — 

Who  summoned  me  to  judgment's  exercise. 

I  find  you,  save  in  folly,  innocent. 

And  in  my  verdict  lies  your  fate  ;  at  choice 

Of  mine  your  cousin  takes  or  leaves  you.     '  Take/* 

I  bid  her  —  for  you  tremble  backjo  truth  ! 

She  turns  the  scale,  —  one  touch  of  the  pure  hand 

Shall  so  press  down,  imprison  past  relapse 

Further  vibration  'twixt  veracity  — 

That's  honest  solid  earth — and  falsehood,  theft 

And  air,  that's  one  illusive  emptiness  ! 

That  reptilecagture^ou  ?     I  conquered  him  : 

You  saw  him  cower  before  me  !     Have  no  fear 


He  shall  offend  you  further  !     Spare  to  spurn  — 
Safe  let  him  slink  hence  till  some  subtler  Eve 
Than  I,  anticipate  the  snake  —  bruise  head  _ 
Ere  he  bruise  heel  —  or,  warier  than  the  first, 


6l8  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Some  Adam  purge  earth's  garden  of  its  pest 
Before  the  slayer  spoil  the  Tree  of  Life  ! 

"  You  !     Leave  this  youth,  as  he  leaves  you,  as  I 

Leave  each  !     There's  caution  surely  extant  yet 

Though  conscience  in  you  were  too  vain  a  claim. 

Hence  quickly  !     Keep  the  cash,  but  leave  unsoiled 

The  heart  I  rescue  and  would  lay  to  heal 

Beside  another's  !     Never  let  her  know 

How  near  came  taint  of  your  companionship  !  " 

"  Ah  "  —  draws  a  long  breath  with  a  new  strange  lools 
The  man  she  interpellates  —  soul  a-stir 
Under  its  covert,  as,  beneath  the  dust, 
A  coppery  sparkle  all  at  once  denotes 
The  hid  snake  has  conceived  a  purpose. 

"  Ah  — 
Innocence  should  be  crowned  with  ignorance  ? 
Desirable  indeed,  but  difficult ! 
As  if  yourself,  now,  had  not  glorified 


THE  INN  ALBUM. 


619 


Your  helpmate  by  imparting  him  a  hint 

Of  how  a  monster  made  the  victim  bleed 

Ere  crook  and  courage  saved  her  —  hint,  I  say,  — 

Not  the  whole  horror,  —  that  were  needless  risk,  — 

But  just  such  inkling,  fancy  of  the  fact, 

As  should  suffice  to  qualify  henceforth 

The  shepherd,  when  another  lamb  would  stray, 

For  warning  '  Ware  the  wolf ! '     No  doubt  at  all, 

Silence  is  generosity,  —  keeps  wolf 

Unhunted  by  flock's  warder  !     Excellent, 

Did  —  generous  to  me,  mean  —  just  to  him  ! 

But,  screening  the  deceiver,  lamb  were  found 

Outraging  the  deceitless  !     So,  —  he  knows  ! 

And  yet,  unharmed  I  breathe  —  perchance,  repent  — 

Thanks  to  the  mercifully-politic  !  " 

"  Ignorance  is  not  innocence  but  sin  — 
Witness  your  own  ignoring  after-pangs 
Pursue  the  plague-infected.     Merciful 
Am  I  ?     Perhaps  !  the  more  contempt,  the  less 
Hatred  ;  and  who  so  worthy  of  contempt 


02 o  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

As  you  that  rest  assured  I  cooled  the  spot 

I  could  not  cure,  by  poisoning,  forsooth. 

Whose  hand  I  pressed  there?     Understand  for  once 

That,  sick,  of  all  the  pains  corroding  me, 

This  burnt  the  last  and  nowise  least —  the  need 

Of  simulating  soundness.     I  resolved  — 

No  matter  how  the  struggle  tasked  weak  flesh  — 

To  hide  the  truth  away  as  in  a  grave 

From  —  most  of  all  —  my  husband  :  he  nor  knows 

Nor  ever  shall  be  made  to  know  your  part. 

My  part,  the  devil's  part,  —  I  trust,  God's  part 

In  the  foul  matter.     Saved,  I  yearn  to  save 

And  not  destroy  :  and  what  destruction  like 

The  abolishing  of  faith  in  him,  that's  faith 

In  me  as  pure  and  true  ?     Acquaint  some  child 

Who  takes  yon  tree  into  his  confidence, 

That,  where  he  sleeps  now,  was  a  murder  done, 

And  that  the  grass  which  grows  so  thick,  he  thinks. 

Only  to  pillow  him  is  product  just 

Of  what  lies  festering  beneath  !    'Tis  God 

Must  bear  such  secrets  and  disclose  them.     Man  ? 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  621 

The  miserable  thing  I  have  become 

By  dread  acquaintance  with  my  secret  — you  — 

That  thing  had  he  become  by  learning  me — 

The  miserable,  whom  his  ignorance 

Would  wrongly  call  the  wicked  :  ignorance 

Being,  I  hold,  sin  ever,  small  or  great. 

No,  he  knows  nothing  !  " 

"  He  and  I  alike 
Are  bound  to  you  for  such  discreetness,  then. 
What  if  our  talk  should  terminate  awhile  ? 
Here  is  a  gentleman  to  satisfy, 
Settle  accounts  with,  pay  ten  thousand  pounds 
Before  we  part  —  as,  by  his  face,  I  fear. 
Results  from  your  appearance  on  the  scene. 
Grant  me  a  minute's  parley  with  my  friend 
Which  scarce  admits  of  a  third  personage  ! 
The  room  from  which  you  made  your  entry  first 
So  opportunely — still  untenanted  — 
What  if  you  please  return  there  ?    Just  a  word 
To  my  young  friend  first  —  then,  a  word  to  you, 


t)2  2  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

And  you  depart  to  fan  away  each  fly 

From  who,  grass-pillowed,  sleeps  so  sound  at  home  !  " 

"  So  the  old  truth  comes  back  !  A  v.'holesome  change, — 

At  last  the  altered  eye,  the  rightful  tone  ! 

But  even  to  the  truth  that  drops  disguise 

And  stands  forth  grinning  malice  which  but  now 

Whined  so  contritely  —  I  refuse  assent 

Just  as  to  malice.     I,  once  gone,  come  back  ? 

No,  my  lord  !    I  enjoy  the  privilege 

Of  being  absolutely  loosed  from  you 

Too  much  —  the  knowledge  that  3'our  power  is  null 

Which  was  omnipotent.     A  word  of  mouth, 

A  wink  of  eye  would  have  detained  me  once, 

Body  and  soul  your  slave  ;  and  now,  thank  God, 

Your  fawningest  of  prayers,  your  frightfullest 

Of  curses — neither  would  avail  to  turn 

My  footstep  for  a  moment ! " 

"  Prayer,  then,  tries 
No  such  adventure.     Let  us  cast  about 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  623 

For  something  novel  in  expedient :  take 
Command,  —  what  say  you  ?    I  profess  myself 
One  fertile  in  resource.     Commanding,  then, 
I  bid  —  not  only  wait  there,  but  return 
Here,  where  I  want  3'ou  !    Disobey  and  — good  ! 
On  your  own  head  the  peril !  " 

"  Come  !  "  breaks  in 
The  boy  with  his  good  glowing  face.     "  Shut  up  ! 
None  of  this  sort  of  thing  while  I  stand  here 
—  Not  to  stand  that !    No  bullying,  I  beg! 
I  also  am  to  leave  you  presently, 
And  never  more  set  eyes  upon  your  face  — 
You  won't  mind  that  much  ;    but —  I  tell  you  frank  — 
I  do  mind  having  to  remember  this 
For  your  last  word  and  deed  —  my  friend  who  were  ! 
Bully  a  woman  you  have  ruined,  eh  ? 
Do  you  know,  —  I  give  credit  all  at  once 
To  all  those  stories  ever\'body  told 
And  nobody  but  I  would  disbelieve  : 
They  all  seem  likely  now, —  nay,  certain,  sure  I 


62  4  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

I  dare  say  you  did  cheat  at  cards  that  night 

The  row  was  at  the  Club  :  '  sauter  la  coiipe '  — 

That  was  your  '  cut,'  for  which  your  friends  'cut '  you 

While  I,  the  booby,  '  cut '  —  acquaintanceship 

With  who  so  much  as  laughed  when  I  said  '  luck  /' 

I  dare  say. you  had  bets  against  the  horse 

They  doctored  at  the  Derby  ;  little  doubt, 

That  fellow  with  the  sister  found  you  shirk 

His  challenge,  and  did  kick  you  like  a  ball. 

Just  as  the  story  went  about !     Enough  : 

It  only  serves  to  show  how  well  advised, 

Madam,  you  were  in  bidding  such  a  fool 

As  I,  go  hang.     You  see  how  the  mere  sight 

And  sound  of  you  suffice  to  tumble  down 

Conviction  topsy-tui-vy  :  no,  —  that's  false,  — 

There's  no  unknowing  what  one  knows ;  and  yet 

Such  is  my  foUy  that,  in  gratitude 

For  .  .  .  well,  Tm  stupid;  but  you  seemed  to  wish 

I  should  know  gently  Avhat  I  know,  should  slip 

Softly  from  old  to  new,  not  break  my  neck 

Between  beliefs  of  what  you  were  and  are.       ' 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  .^25 

Well  then,  for  just  the  sake  of  such  a  wish 

To  cut  no  worse  a  figure  than  needs  must 

In  even  eyes  like  mine,  I'd  sacrifice 

Cody  and  soul  !     But  don't  think  danger  —  pray  !  — 

Menaces  either !     He  do  harm  to  us  ? 

Let  me  say  '  us  '  this  one  time  !     You'd  allow 

I  lent  perhaps  my  hand  to  rid  your  ear 

Of  some  cur's  yelping  —  hand  that,  fortified, 

Into  the  bargain,  with  a  horsewhip  ?     Oh, 

One  crack  and  you  shall  see  how  curs  decamp ! 

My  lord,  you  know  your  losses  and  my  gains. 

Pay  me  my  money  at  the  proper  time  ! 

If  cash  be  not  forthcoming,  —  well,  yourself 

Have  taught  me,  and  tried  often,  I'll  engage. 

The  proper  course  :  I  post  you  at  the  Club, 

Pillory  the  defaulter.      Crack,  to-day, 

Shall,  slash,  to-morrow,  slice  through  flesh  and  bone  ! 

There,  Madam,  you  need  mind  no  cur,  I  think ! " 

"  Ah,  what  a  gain  to  have  an  apt  no  less 

Than  grateful  scholar !     Nay,  he  brings  to  mind 


62  6  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

My  knowledge  till  he  puts  me  to  the  blush, 

So  long  has  it  lain  rusty !     Post  my  name  ! 

That  were  indeed  a  wheal  from  whipcord  !     Whew ! 

I  wonder  now  if  I  could  rummage  out  — 

—  Just  to  match  weapons  —  some  old  scorpion-scourge  ! 

Madam,  you  hear  my  pupil,  may  applaud 

His  triumph  o'er  the  master.     I  — no  more 

Bully,  since  I'm  forbidden  :  but  entreat  — 

Wait  and  return  —  for  my  sake,  no  !  but  just 

To  save  your  own  defender,  should  he  chance 

Get  thwacked  through  awkward  flourish  of  his  thone:. 

And  what  if  —  since  all  waiting's  wear}''  work  — 

I  help  the  time  pass  'twixt  your  exit  now 

And  entry  then  ?  for  —  pastime  proper  —  here's 

The  very  thing,  the  Album,  verse  and  prose 

To  make  the  laughing  minutes  launch  away  ! 

Each  of  us  must  contribute.     I'll  begin  — 

*  Hail  calm  acclivity,  salubrious  spot ! ' 

I'm  confident  I  beat  the  bard,  —  for  why? 

My  young  friend  owns  me  an  lago  —  him 

Confessed,  among  the  other  qualities, 


THE  TNN  ALBUM.  627 

A  ready  rhymer.     Oh,  he  rhymed !     Here  goes  ! 
—  Something  to  end  with  'horsewhip!'  No,  that  rhyme 
Beats  me  \  there's  'cowslip'  'bolt sprit'  nothing  else  ! 
So,  Tennyson  take  my  benison,  —  verse  for  bard, 
Prose    suits   the   gambler's    book    best!     Dared     and 
done  ! " 

Wherewitli  he  dips  pen,  writes  a  line  or  tAVO, 
Closes  and  clasps  the  cover,  gives  the  book, 
Bowing  the  while,  to  her  who  hesitates. 
Turns  halt  away,  turns  round  again,  at  last 
Takes  it  as  you  touch  carrion,  then  retires. 
The  door  shuts  fast  the  couple. 


62  8  THE  INN  ALBUM, 


VI. 

With  a  change 
Of  his  whole  manner,  opens  out  at  once 
The  Adversary. 

"  Now,  my  friend,  for  you  ! 
You  who,  protected  late,  aggressive  grown, 
Brandish,  it  seems,  a  weapon  I  must  'ware  ! 
Plain  speech  in  me  becomes  respectable 
Therefore,  because  courageous  ;  plainly,  then  — 
(Have  lash  well  loose,  hold  handle  tight  and  light ! ) 
Throughout  my  life's  experience,  you  indulged 
Yourself  and  friend  by  passing  in  review 
So  courteously  but  now,  I  vainly  search 
To  find  one  record  of  a  specimen 
So  perfect  of  the  pure  and  simple  fool 


THE  INN  ALBUr.r.  629 

As  this  you  furnish  me.     Ingratitude 
I  lump  with  folly,  —  all's  one  lot,  —  so  —  fool ! 
Did  I  seek  you,  or  you  seek  me  ?     Seek  ?  sneak 
For  service  to,  and  service  you  would  st}de  — 
And  did  style  —  godlike,  scarce  an  hour  ago  ! 
Fool,  there  again,  yet  not  precisely  there 
First-rate  in  folly  :  since  the  hand  you  kissed 
Did  pick  you  from  the  kennel,  did  plant  firm 
Your  footstep  on  the  pathway,  did  persuade 
Your  awkward  shamble  to  true  gait  and  pace, 
Fit  for  the  world  you  walk  in.     Once  a-strut 
On  that  firm  pavement  which  your  cowardice 
Was  for  renouncing  as  a  pitfall,  next 
Came  need  to  clear  your  brains  of  their  conceit 
They  cleverly  could  distinguish  who  was  who, 
Whatever  folk  might  tramp  the  thoroughfare. 
Men,  now  —  familiarly  you  read  them  off, 
Each  phiz  at  first  sight !     O  you  had  an  eye ! 
Who  couched  it  ?  made  you  disappoint  each  fox 
Eager  to  strip  my  gosling  of  his  fluff 
So  golden  as  he  cackled  '  Goose  trusts  lamb  ? ' 


030  THE  nViV  ALBUM. 

'  Ay,  but  I  saved  you  —  wolf  defeated  fox  — 
Wanting  to  pick  your  bones  myself  2  '  then,  wolf 
Has  got  the  worst  of  it  with  goose  for  once. 
I,  penniless,  pay  you  ten  thousand  pounds 
( —  No  gesture,  pray  !     I  pay  ere  I  depart !  ) 
And  how  you  turn  advantage  to  account 
Here's  the  example  !     Have  I  proved  so  wrong 
In  my  peremptory  *  debt  must  be  discharged  I ' 
O  you  laughed  lovelily,  were  loath  to  leave 
The  old  friend  out  at  elbows  —  pooh,  a  thing 
Not  to  be  thought  of !     I  must  keep  my  cash, 
And  you  forget  your  generosity  ! 
Ha  ha,  I  took  your  measure  when  I  laughed 
My  laugh  to  that !     First  quarrel  —  nay,  first  faint 
Pretence  at  taking  umbrage  —  '  Down  with  debt. 
Both  interest  and  principal ! —  The  Club, 
Exposure  and  expulsion  !  —  stamp  me  out  I ' 
That's  the  magnanimous  magnificent 
Renunciation  of  advantage  !     Well, 
But  whence  and  why  did  you  take  umbrage,  Sir  ? 
Because  your  master,  having  made  you  know 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  631 

Somewhat  of  men,  was  minded  to  advance, 

Expound  you  women,  still  a  mystery  ! 

]\Iy  pujDil  pottered  with  a  cloud  on  brow, 

A  clod  in  breast :  had  loved,  and  vainly  loved  : 

Wlience  blight  and  blackness,  just  for  all  the  world 

As  Byron  used  to  teach  us  boys.     Thought  I  — 

'  Quick  rid  him  of  that  rubbish  !     Clear  the  cloud, 

And  set  the  heart  a-pulsing  I '  —  heart,  this  time  : 

'Twas  nothing  but  the  head  I  doctored  late 

For  ignorance  of  Man  j  now  heart's  to  dose. 

Palsied  by  over-palpitation  due 

To  woman-worship  —  so,  to  work  at  once 

On  first  avowal  of  the  patient's  ache  ! 

This  morning  you  described  your  malady,  — 

How  you  dared  love  a  piece  of  virtue  —  lost 

To  reason,  as  the  upshot  showed :  for  scorn 

Fitly  repaid  your  stupid  arrogance  ; 

And,  parting,  you  went  two  ways,  she  resumed 

Her  path  —  perfection,  while  forlorn  you  paced 

The  world  that's  made  for  beasts  like  you  and  me. 

My  remedy  wai  — tell  the  fool  the  truth  ! 


632  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

f    Your  paragon  of  purity  had  plumped 
''    Into  these  arms  at  their  first  outspread  — '■fallen 
\_My  victim,^  she  prefers  to  turn  the  phrase  — 
And,  in  exchange  for  that  frank  confidence, 
Asked  for  my  whole  life  present  and  to  come  — 
Marriage  :  a  thing  uncovenanted  for  ! 
Never  so  much  as  put  in  question  !     Life  — 
Implied  by  marriage  —  throw  that  trifle  in 
And  round  the  bargain  off,  no  otherwise 
Than  if,  when  we  played  cards,  because  you  won 
My  money  you  should  also  want  my  head  ! 
■    That,  I  demurred  to  :  we  but  played  ^for  love  '  — 

She  won  my  love  ;  had  she  proposed  for  stakes 
I    '■Marriage,'  —  why,  that's  for  whist,  a  wiser  game. 
Wliereat  she  raved  at  me,  as  losers  will. 
And  went  her  way.     So  far  the  story's  known, 
The  remedy's  applied,  no  f ardier  —  which 
Here's  the  sick  man's  first  honoraritim  for  — 
Posting  his  medicine-monger  at  the  Club ! 
That  being.  Sir,  the  whole  you  mean  my  fee  — 
In  gratitude  for  such  munificence 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  633 

I'm  bound  in  common  honesty  to  spare 
No  droplet  of  the  draught :  so,  —  pinch  your  nose, 
Pull  no  wry  faces  !  —  drain  it  to  the  dregs  ! 
I  say,  '  She  went  off'  —  '  went  off,'  you  subjoin, 
'  Since  not  to  wedded  bliss,  as  I  supposed. 
Sure  to  some  convent :  solitude  and  peace 
Help  her  to  hide  the  shame  from  mortal  view, 
With  prayer  and  fasting'     No,  my  sapient  Sir ! 
Far  wiselier,  straightway  she  betook  herself 
I  To  a  prize-portent  from  the  donkey-show 
j  Of  leathern  long-ears  that  compete  for  palm 
j   In  clerical  absurdit}- :  since  he, 
1  Good  ass,  nor  practises  the  shaving-trick, 
1  The  candle-crotchet,  nonsense  which  repays 
When  you've  young  ladies  congregant,  —  but  schools 
The  poor,  —  toils,  moils  and  grinds  the  mill,  nor  means 
To  stop  and  munch  one  thistle  in  this  life 
Till  next  life  smother  him  with  roses  :  just 
The  parson  for  her  purpose  !     Him  she  stroked 
Over  the  muzzle ;  into  mouth  with  bit. 
And  on  to  back  with  saddle,  —  there  he  stood, 


634  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

The  serviceable  beast  who  heard,  believed 
And  meekly  bowed  him  to  the  burden,  — borne 
Off  in  a  canter  to  seclusion  —  ay, 
The  lady's  lost !     But  had  a  friend  of  mine 
. —  While  friend  he  was  —  imparted  his  sad  case 
To  sympathizing  counsellor,  full  soon 
One  cloud  at  least  had  vanished  from  his  brow. 
'•  DofiH  fear  r  had  followed  reassuringly  — 
*  The  lost  will  in  due  time  turn  up  again, 
Probably  just  when,  weary  of  the  world, 
You  think  of  nothing  less  than  settling-down 
To  country  life  and  golden  days,  beside 
A  dearest  best  and  brightest  virtuousest 
Wife  :  who  needs  no  more  hope  to  hold  her  own 
Against  the  naughty-and-repentant  —  no. 
Than  water-gruel  against  Roman  punch  ! ' 
And  as  I  prophesied,  it  proves  !     My  youth,  — 
Just  at  the  happy  moment  when,  subdued 
To  spooniness,  he  finds  that  youth  fleets  fast, 
That  town-life  tires,  that  men  should  drop  boy's-play, 
That  property,  position  have,  no  doubt, 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  635 

Their  exigency  with  their  privilege, 

And  if  the  wealthy  wed  with  wealth,  how  dire 

The  double  duty !  —  in,  behold,  there  beams 

Our  long-lost  lady,  form  and  face  complete  ! 

And  Where's  my  moralizing  pupil  now, 

Had  not  his  master  missed  a  train  by  chance  ? 

But,  by  your  side  instead  of  whirled  away. 

How  have  I  spoiled  scene,  stopped  catastrophe, 

Struck  flat  the  stage-effect  I  know  by  heart ! 

Sudden  and  strange  the  meeting  —  improvised  ? 

Bless  you,  the  last  event  she  hoped  or  dreamed ! 

But  rude  sharp  stroke  will  crush  out  five  from  flint  — 

Assuredly  from  flesh.     ' '  Tis  youV     '  Myself! ' 

*  Changed  ?  '      '  Changeless  / '     '  Then,    whafs  earth   to 

me?  '     '  To  me 
Whafs  heaven  ? '    'So,  —  thine  ! '    '  And  thine  ! '    '  And 

likewise  mitie  ! ' 
Had  laughed  '  Amen  '  the  devil,  but  for  me 
Whose  intermeddling  hinders  this  hot  haste. 
And  bids  you,  ere  concluding  contract,  pause  — 
Ponder  one  lesson  more,  then  sign  and  seal 


636  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

At  leisure  and  at  pleasure,  —  lesson's  price 
Being,  if  you  have  skill  to  estimate, 

—  How  say  you  ?  —  I'm  discharged  my  debt  in  full ! 
Since  paid  you  stand,  to  farthing  uttermost, 
Unless  I  fare  like  that  black  majesty 

A  friend  of  mine  had  visit  from  last  Spring. 
Coasting  along  the  Cape-side,  he's  becalmed 
Off  an  unchartered  bay,  a  novel  town 
Untouched  at  by  the  trader :  here's  a  chance. 
Out  paddles  straight  the  king  in  his  canoe, 
Comes  over  bulwark,  says  he  means  to  buy 
Ship's  cargo  —  being  rich  and  having  brought 
A  treasure  ample  for  the  purpose.     See ! 
Four  dragons,  stalwart  blackies,  guard  the  same 
Wrapped  round  and  round  :  its  hulls,  a  multitude,  — 
Palm-leaf  and  cocoa-mat  and  goat's-hair  cloth 
All  duly  braced  about  with  bark  and  board,  — 
Suggest  how  brave,  'neath  coat,  must  kernel  be ! 
At  length  the  peeling  is  accomplished,  plain 
The  casket  opens  out  its  core,  and  lo 

—  A  bran  new  British  silver  sixpence  —  bid 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  f^ii 

That's  ample  for  the  Bank,  —  thinks  majesty  ! 

You  are  the  Captain ;  call  my  sixpence  cracked 

Or  copper  ;  '  what  I've  said  is  calumny  ; 

The  lady's  spotless  ! '     Then,  I'll  prove  my  words, 

Or  make  you  prove  them  true  as  truth  —  yourself, 

Here,  on  the  instant !    I'll  not  mince  my  speech, 

Things  at  this  issue.     When  she  enters,  then, 

Make  love  to  her  !     No  talk  of  marriage  now  — 

The  point-blank  bare  proposal !     Pick  no  phrase  — 

Prevent  all  misconception  !     Soon  you'll  see 

How  different  the  tactics  when  she  deals 

With  an  instructed  man,  no  longer  boy 

Who  blushes  like  a  booby.     Woman's  wit ! 

Because  you  have  instruction,  blush  no  more  ! 

Such  your  five  minutes'  profit  by  my  pains,  /j 

'Tis  simply  now  —  demand  and  be  possessed!  kJ t' 

Which  means  —  you  may  possess  — may  strip  the  tree 

Of  fruit  desirable  to  make  one  wise! 

More  I  nor  wish  nor  want :  your  act's  your  act, 

My  teaching  is  but  —  there's  the  fruit  to  pluck, 

Or  let  alone  at  pleasure.     Next  advance 


638  THE  IN.Y  ALBUM. 

In  knowledge  were  beyond  you  !     Don't  expect 

I  bid  a  novice  —  pluck,  suck,  send  sky-high 

Such  fruit,  once  taught  that  neither  crab  nor  sloe 

Falls  readier  prey  to  who  but  robs  a  hedge, 

Than  this  gold  apple  to  my  Hercules. 

Were  you  no  novice  but  proficient  —  then, 

Then,    truly,     I     might     prompt     you  —  Touch     and 

taste, 
Tr)'  flavor  and  be  tired  as  soon  as  I ! 
Toss  on  the  prize  to  greedy  mouths  agape. 
Betake  yours,  sobered  as  the  satiate  grow. 
To  wise  man's  solid  meal  of  house  and  land, 
Consols  and  cousin  !  but  my  boy,  my  boy. 
Such  lore's  above  you  !     Here's  the  lady  back ! 
So,  Madam,  you  have  conned  the  Album-page 
And  come  to  thank  its  last  contributor  ? 
How  kind  and  condescending  !     I  retire 
A  moment,  lest  I  spoil  the  interview. 
And  mar  my  own  endeavor  to  make  friends  — 
You  with  him,  him  with  you,  and  boJtkjivith  me^! 
IfX-Succeed  —  permit  me  to  inquire 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  639 

Five    minutes    hence !       Friends     bid    good-by,    you 
know." 

And  out  he  goes. 


640  THE  INN  ALBUM. 


VII. 

She,  face,  form,  bearing,  one 
Superb  composure  — 

"  He  has  told  you  all  ? 
Yes,  he  has  told  you  all,  your  silence  says  — 
What  gives  him,  as  he  thinks,  the  mastery 
Over  my  body  and  my  soul !  —  has  told 
That  instance,  even,  of  their  servitude 
He  now  exacts  of  me  ?     A  silent  blush  ! 
That's  well,  though  better  would  white  ignorance 
Beseem  your  brow,  undesecrate  before  — 
Ay,  when  I  left  you !     I  too  learn  at  last 
—  Hideously  learned  as  I  seemed  so  late  — 
What  sin  may  swell  to.     Yes,  —  I  needed  learn 
That,  when  my  prophet's  rod  became  the  snake 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  641 

I  fled  from,  it  would,  one  day,  swallow  up 

—  Incorporate  whatever  serpentine 
Falsehood  and  treason  and  unmanliness 

Beslime  earth's  pavement :  such  the  power  of  Hell, 
And  so  beginning,  ends  no  otherwise 
The  Advcrsar}' !     I  was  ignorant, 
Blameworthy  —  if  you  will ;  but  blame  I  take 
Nowise  upon  me  as  I  ask  myself 

—  Yott  —  how  can  you,  whose  soul  I  seemed  to  read 
The  limpid  eyes  through,  have  declined  so  deep 
Even  with  him  for  consort  ?     I  revolve 

Much  memory,  pry  into  the  looks  and  words 
Of  that  day's  walk  beneath  the  College  wall, 
And  nowhere  can  distinguish,  in  what  gleams 
Only  pure  marble  through  my  dusky  past, 
A  dubious  cranny  where  such  poison-seed 
Might  harbor,  nourish  what  should  yield  to-day 
This  dread  ingredient  for  the  cup  I  drink. 
Did  not  I  recognize  and  honor  truth 
In  seeming  ?  —  take  your  truth  and  for  return, 
^  Give  you  my  truth,  a  no  less  precious  gift  ? 


642  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

You  loved  me  :  I  believed  you.     I  replied 

—  How  could  I  other  ?     '  /  was  not  my  own,* 

—  No  longer  had  the  eyes  to  see,  the  ears 

To  hear,  the  mind  to  judge,  since  heart  and  soul 

Now  rt'cre  another's.     My  own  right  in  me, 

For  well  or  ill,  consigned  away  —  my  face 

Fronted  the  honest  path,  deflection  whence 

Had  shamed  me  in  the  furtive  backward  look 

At  the  late  bargain  — fit  such  chapman's  phrase  !  — 

As  though  — less  hasty  and  more  provident  — 

Waiting  had  brought  advantage.     Not  for  me. 

The    chapman's  chance !      Yet  while  thus  much  was 

true, 
I  spared  you — as  I  knew  you  then  —  one  more 
Concluding  word  which,  truth  no  less,  seemed  best 
Buried  away  forever.     Take  it  now 
Its  power  to  pain  is  past !     Four  years  —  that  day — 
Those  limes  that  make  the  College  avenue  ! 
I  would  that  —  friend  and  foe  —  by  miracle, 
I  had,  that  moment,  seen  into  the  heart 
Of  either,  as  I  now  am  taught  to  see  ! 


THE  INN  ALBUM. 

I  do  believe  I  should  have  straight  assumed 
My  proper  function,  and  sustained  a  soul, 

—  Not  aimed  at  being  just  sustained  myself 

By  some  man's  soul  —  the  weaker  woman's-want 

So  had  I  missed  the  momentary  thrill 

Of  finding  me  in  presence  of  a  god, 

But  gained  the  god's  own  feeling  when  he  gives 

Such  thrill  to  what  turns  life  from  death  before. 

^Gods  many  and  Lords  7na?ij,'  says  the  Book  : 

You  would  have  yielded  up  your  soul  to  me 

—  Not  to  the  false  god  who  has  burned  its  clay 
In  his  own  image.     I  had  shed  my  love 

Like  Spring  dew  on  the  clod  all  flowery  thence, 

Not  sent  up  a  wild  vapor  to  the  sun 

That  drinks  and  then  disperses.     Both  of  us 

Blameworthy,  —  I  first  meet  my  punishment  — 

And  not  so  hard  to  bear.     I  breathe  again ! 

Forth  from  those  arms'  enwinding  leprosy 

At  last  I  struggle  —  uncontaminate  : 

Why  must  I  leave  you  pressing  to  the  breast 

That's  all  one  plague-spot  ?     Did  you  love  me  once  ? 


643 


644  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Then  take  love's  last  and  best  return  !     I  think 

V/omanliness  means  only  motherhood  ; 

All  love  begins  and  ends  there,  —  roams  enough, 

But,  having  run  the  circle,  rests  at  home. 

Why  is  your  expiation  yet  to  make  ? 

Pull  shame  with  your  own  hands  from  your  own  head 

Now,  —  never  wait  the  slow  envelopment 

Submitted  to  by  unelastic  age  ! 

One  fierce  throe  frees  the  sapling :  flake  on  flake 

Lull  till  they  leave  the  oak  snow-stupefied. 

Your  heart  retains  its  vital  warmth  —  or  why 

That  blushing  reassurance  ?     Blush,  young  blood  ! 

Break  from  beneath  this  icy  premature 

Captivity  of  wickedness  —  I  warn 

Back,  in  God's  name  !     No  fresh  encroachment  here ! 

This  May  breaks  all  to  bud  —  no  Winter  now ! 

Friend,  we  are  both^  forgiven  !     SinnojnoreJ 

I_am  past  sin  now,  soshalI_you  become  ! 

Meanwhile  I  testi^  that,  lying  once. 

My  foe  lied  ever,  most  lied  last  of  all. 

He,  waking,  whispered  to  your  sense  asleep 


THE  INN  ALBUM. 


645 


The  wicked  counsel,  —  and  assent  might  seem  ; 
But,  roused,  your  healthy  indignation  breaks 
The  idle  dream-pact.     You  would  die  —  not  dare 
Confirm  your  dream-resolve,  —  nay,  find  the  word 
That  fits  the  deed  to  bear  the  light  of  day ! 
Say  I  have  justly  judged  you  !  then  farewell 
To  blushing  —  nay,  it  ends  in  smiles,  not  tears  ! 
Why  tears  now  ?     I  have  justly  judged,  thank  God !  " 

He  does  not  blush  boy-like,  but  the  man  speaks  out, 
—  Makes  the  due  effort  to  sunnount  himself. 

"  I  don't  know  what  he  wrote  —  how  should  I  ?     Nor 
How  he  could  read  my  purpose  which,  it  seems, 
He  chose  to  somehow  write  —  mistakenly 
Or  else  for  mischief's  sake.     I  scarce  believe 
My  purpose  put  before  you  fair  and  plain 
Would  need  annoy  so  much ;  but  there's  my  luck  — 
From  first  to  last  I  blunder.     Still,  one  more 
Turn  at  the  target,  tiy  to  speak  my  thought ! 
Since  he  could  guess  my  purpose,  won't  you  read 


646  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Right  what  he  set  down  Avrong  ?     He  said  —  let's 

"~  think ! 
Ay,  so  !  —  he  did  begin  by  telUng  heaps 
Of  tales  about  you.     Now,  you  see  —  suppose 
Any  one  told  me  —  my  own  mother  died 
Before  I  knew  her  —  told  me  —  to  his  cost !  — 
Such  tales  about  my  own  dead  mother  :  why, 
You  would  not  wonder  surely  if  I  knew. 
By  nothing  but  my  own  heart's  help,  he  lied, 
Would  you  ?     No  reason's  wanted  in  the  case. 
So  with  you  !     In  they  burnt  on  me,  his  tales, 
Much  as  when  madhouse-inmates  crowd  around, 
Make  captive  any  visitor  and  scream 
All  sorts  of  stories  of  their  keeper  —  he's 
Both  dwarf  and  giant,  vulture,  wolf,  dog,  cat, 
Serpent  and  scorpion,  j^et  man  all  the  same ; 
Sane  people  soon  see  through  the  gibberish  ! 
I  just  made  out,  you  somehow  lived  somewhere 
A  life  of  shame  —  I  can't  distinguish  more  — 
Married  or  single  —  how,  don't  matter  much  : 
Shame  v/hich  himself  had  caused  —  that  point  was 
clear, 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  647 

That  fact  confessed  —  that  thing  to  hold  and  keep. 
Oh,  and  he  added  some  absurdity 

—  That  you  were  here  to  make  me  —  ha,  ha,  ha  !  — • 
Still  love  you,  still  of  mind  to  die  for  you, 

Ha,  ha  —  as  if  that  needed  mighty  pains  ! 
Now,  foolish  as  .  .  .  but  never  mind  myself 

—  What  I  am,  what  I  am  not,  in  the  eye 

Of  the  world,  is  what  I  never  cared  for  much. 

Fool  then  or  no  fool,  not  one  single  word_ 

In  the  whole  string  of  lies  did  I  believe, . 

But  this  —  this  only  —  if  I  choke,  who  minds  ?  — 

I  believe  somehow  in  your  purity 

Perfect  as  ever  !     Else  what  use  is  God  ? 

He  is  God,  and  work  miracles  He  can  ! 

Then,  what  shall  I  do  ?     Quite  as  clear,  my  course ! 

They've  got  a  thing  they  call  their  Labyrinth 

I'  the  garden  yonder ;  and  my  cousin  played 

A  pretty  trick  once,  led  and  lost  me  deep 

Inside  the  briery  maze  of  hedge  round  hedge ; 

And  there  might  I  be  staying  now,  stock-still, 

But  that  I  laughing  bade  eyes  follow  nose 


648  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

And  so  straight  pushed  my  path  through  let  and  stop 

And  soon  was  out  in  the  open,  face  all  scratched, 

But  well  behind  my  back  the  prison-bars 

In  Sony  plight  enough,  I  promise  you  ! 

So  here  :  I  won  my  way  to  truth  through  lies  — 

Said,  as  I  saw  light,  —  if  her  shame  be  shame 

I'll  rescue  and  redeem  her,  —  shame's  no  shame  ? 

Then,  I'll  avenge,  protect  —  redeem  m}[self 

The  stupidest  of  sinners  !     Here  I  stand  ! 

Dear,  —  let  me  once  dare  call  you  so,  —  you  said 

Thus  ought  you  to  have  done,  four  years  ago, 

Such  things  and  such  !     Ay,  dear,  and  what  ought  I  ? 

You  were  revealed  to  me  :  where's  gratitude, 

Where's  memory  even,  where  the  gain  of  you 

Discernible  in  my  low  after-life 

Of  fancied  consolation  ?  why,  no  horse 

Once  fed  on  com,  will,  missing  corn,  go  munch 

Mere  thistles  like  a  donkey  !     I  missedyou. 

And  in  your  place  found  —  him,  made  him  my  love, 

Ay,  did  I,  —  by  this  token,  that  he  taught 

So  much  beast-nature  that  I  meant  .  .  .  God  knows 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  649 

Wliether  I  bow  me  to  the  dust  enough  !  .  .  . 

To  marry  —  yes,  my  cousin  here  !     I  hope 

That  was  a  master-stroke  !     Take  heart  of  hers, 

And  give  her  hand  of  mine  with  no  more  heart 

Than  now  you  see  upon  this  brow  I  strike  ! 

What  atom  of  a  heart  do  I  retain 

Not  all  yours  ?     Dear,  you  know  it !     Easily 

May  she  accord  me  pardon  when  I  place 

My  brow  beneath  her  foot,  if  foot  so  deign, 

Since  uttermost  indignity  is  spjired  — 

Mere  marriage  and  no  love  !     And  all  this  time 

Not  one  word  to  the  purpose  !     Are  you  free  ? 

Only  wait !  only  let  me  serve  —  deserve 

Where  you  appoint  and  how  you  see  the  good  ! 

I  have  the  will  —  perhaps  the  power  —  at  least 

Means  that  have  power  against  the  world.     For  time  — 

Take  my  whole  life  for  your  experiment ! 

If  you  are  bound  —  in  marriage,  say  —  why,  still. 

Still,  sure,  there's  something  for  a  friend  to  do, 

Outside  ?     A  mere  well-wisher,  understand^ 

I'll  sit,  my  life  long,  at  your  gate,  you  know, 


650  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Swing  it  wide  open  to  let  you  and  him 

Pass  freely,  —  and  }i0u  need  not  look,  much  less 

Fling  me  a  '  Thank  y  on  —  arc  you  there,  old  friend  V 

Don't  say  that  even  :  I  should  drop  like  shot ! 

So  I  feel  now  at  least :  some  day,  who  knows  ? 

After  no  end  of  weeks  and  months  and  years 

You  might  smile  ^  I  believe  you  did  your  best  T 

And  that  shall  make  my  heart  leap  —  leap  such  leap 

As  lands  the  feet  in  Heaven  to  wait  you  there  ! 

Ah,  there's  just  one  thing  more  !     How  pale  you  look  ! 

Why  ?     Are  you  angry?     If  there's,  after  all. 

Worst  come  to  worst  —  if  still  there  somehow  be 

The  shame  —  I  said  was  no  shame,  —  none,  I  swear  !  — 

In  that  case,  if  my  hand  and  what  it  holds,  — 

jVIy  name,  —  might  be  your  safeguard  now  — at  once  — 

Why,    here's    the   hand  —  you    have    the    heart!     Of 

course  — 
No  cheat,  no  binding  you,  because  I'm  bound. 
To  let  me  off  probation  by  one  day, 
Week,  month,  year,  lifetime  !     Prove  as  you  propose  ! 


Here's  the  hand  with  the  name  to  take  or  leave  ! 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  651 

That's  all  —  and  no  great  piece  of  news,  I  hope  !  " 

"  Give  me  the  hand,  then  ! "  she  cries  hastily. 
"  Quick,  now  !  I  hear  his  footstep  !  " 

Hand  in  hand 


The  couple  face  him  as  he  enters,  stops 
Short,  stands  surprised  a  moment,  laughs  away 
Surprise,  resumes  the  much-experienced  man. 

"  So,  you  accept  him  ?  " 

"  Till  us  death  do  part !  " 

"  No  longer  ?     Come,  that's  right  and  rational  1 

I  fancied  there  was  power  in  common  sense. 

But  did  not  know  it  worked  thus  promptly.     Well  — 

At  last  each  understands  the  other,  then  ? 

Each  drops  disguise,  then  ?     So,  at  supper-time 

These  masquerading  people  doff  their  gear. 

Grand  Turk  his  pompous  turban,  Quakeress 


652  ■  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Her  stiff-starched  bib  and  tucker,  —  make-believe 
That  only  bothers  when,  ball-business  done, 
Nature  demands  champagne  and  mayonnaise. 
Just  so  has  each  of  us  sage  three  abjured 
His  and  her  moral  pet  particular 
Ylto^  ".v  Pretension  to  superiority, 

And,  cheek  by  jowl,  we  henceforth  munch  and  joke  ! 

Go,  happy  pair,  paternally  dismissed 

To  live  and  die  together  —  for  a  month. 

Discretion  can  award  no  more  !     Depart 

From  whatsoe'er  the  calm  sweet  solitude 

Selected  —  Paris  not  improbably  — 

At  month's  end,  when  the  honeycomb's  left  wax, 

—  You,  daughter,  with  a  pocketful  of  gold 

Enough  to  find  your  village  bo3'S  and  girls 

In  duffel  cloaks  and  hobnailed  shoes  from  May 

To  —  what's  the  phrase  ?  —  Christmas-come-never-mas  ! 

You,  son  and  heir  of  mine,  shall  re-appear 

Ere  Spring-time,  that's  the  ring-time,  lose  one  leaf, 

And  —  not  without  regretful  smack  of  lip 

The  while  you  wipe  it  free  of  honey-smear  — 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  653 

Many  the  cousin,  play  the  magistrate, 

Stand  for  the  count)',  prove  perfection's  pink  — 

Master  of  hounds,  gay-coated  dine  —  nor  die 

Sooner  than  needs  of  gout,  obesity. 

And  sons  at  Christ  Church  !     As  for  me,  —  ah  me, 

I  abdicate  —  retire  on  my  success, 

Four  years  well  occupied  in  teaching  youth 

—  My  son  and  daughter  the  exemplary  !, 

Time  for  me  to  retire  now,  having  placed 

Proud  on  their  pedestal  the  pair  :  in  turn. 

Let  them  do  homage  to  their  master  !     You,  — 

Well,  your  flushed  cheek  and  flashing  eye  proclaim 

Sufficiently  your  gratitude  :  you  paid 

The  honorarium,  the  ten  thousand  pounds 

To  purpose,  did  you  not  ?     I  told  you  so  ! 

And  you,  —  but,  bless  me,  why  so  pale  —  so  faint 

At  influx  of  good  fortune  ?     Certainly, 

No  matter  how  or  why  or  whose  the  fault, 

I  save  your  life  —  save  it,  nor  less  nor  more  ! 

You  blindly  were  resolved  to  welcome  death 

In  that  black  boor-and-bumpkin-haunted  hole 


654  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Of  his,  the  prig  with  all  the  preachments  !      You 
Installed  as  nurse  and  matron  to  the  crones 
And  wenches,  while  there  lay  a  world  outside 
Like  Paris  (which  again  I  recommend) 
In  company  and  guidance  of  —  first,  this, 
Then  —  all  in  good  time  —  some  ncAv  friend  as  fit- 
\Vliat  if  I  were  to  say,  some  fresh  myself, 
As  I  once  figured  ?     Each  dog  has  his  day. 
And  mine's  at  sunset :  what  should  old  dog  do 
But  eye  young  litters'  frisky  puppyhood  ? 

0  I  shall  watch  this  beaut}'  and  this  youth 
Frisk  it  in  brilliance  !     But  don't  fear  !     Discreet, 

1  shall  pretend  to  no  more  recognize 

My  quondam  pupils  than  the  doctor  nods 
When  certain  old  acquaintances  may  cross 
His  path  in  Park,  or  sit  down  prim  beside 
His  plate  at  dinner-table  :  tip  nor  wink 
Scares  patients  he  has  put,  for  reason  good, 
Under  restriction,  —  maybe,  talked  sometimes 
Of  douche  or  horsewhip  to,  —  for  why  ?  because 
The  gentleman  would  crazily  declare 


THE  INiV  ALBUM.  651 

His  best  friend  was  —  lago  !     Ay,  and  worse  — 

The  lady,  all  at  once  grown  lunatic, 

In  suicidal  monomania  vowed, 

To  save  her  soul,  she  had  needs  end  herself ! 

They're  cured  now,  both,  and  I  tell  nobody. 

Why  don't  you  speak  ?     Nay,  speechless,  each  of  you 

Can  spare,  —  without  unclasping  plighted  troth,  — 

At  least  one  hand  to  shake  !     Left-hands  will  do  — 

Yours  first,  my  daughter !     All,  it  guards  —  it  gripes 

The  precious  Album  fast  —  and  prudently  ! 

As  well  obliterate  the  record  there  '^ 

On  page  the  last :  allow  me  tear  the  leaf ! 

Pray,  now  !     And  afterward,  to  make  amends, 

What  if  all  three  of  us  contribute  each 

A  line  to  that  prelusive  fragment,  —  help 

The  embarrassed  bard  who  broke  out  to  break  down 

Dumbfoundered  at  such  unforeseen  success  ? 

*  Hail,  calm  acclivity,  salubrious  spot ' 

You  begin  — place  aux  dames ! —  I'll  prompt  you  then  ! 

*  Here  do  I  take  the  good  the  gods  allot/ ' 

Next  you,  sir  ?     What,  still  sulky  ?     Sing,  O  Muse  ! 


JLUi 


^/ 


65*5  TJ/E  INN  ALBUM. 

*  Here  does  my  lord  in  full  discharge  his  shot  I ' 

Now  for  the  crowning  flourish  !  mine  shall  be  "  .  .  . 

"  Nothing  to  match  your  first  effusion,  mar 

What  was,  is,  shall  remahi  your  masterpiece  ! 

Authorship  has  the  alteration-itch  ! 

No,  I  protest  against  erasure.     B^ad, 

Myjrien^  "  (she  gasps  out).    "  Read  and  quickly  read 

'Be/ore  us  death  do  part, ^  what  made  you  mine 

And  made  me  yours  —  the  marriage-licejise  here  ! 

Decide  if  he  is  like  to  mend  the  same  !  " 

And  so  the  lad}',  white  to  ghastliness. 

Manages  somehow  to  display  the  page 

With  left  hand  only,  while  the  right  retains 

The  other  hand,  the  young  man's,  —  dreaming-drunk 

He,  with  this  drench  of  stupefying  stuff, 

Eyes,  wide,  mouth  open,  —  half  the  idiot's  stare 

And  half  the  prophet's  insight,  —  holding  tight, 

All  the  same,  by  his  one  fact  in  the  world  — 

The  lady's  right  hand  :  he  but  seems  to  read  — 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  6.S7 

Does  not,  for  certain  ;  yet,  how  understand 
Unless  he  reads  ? 

So,  understand  he  does, 
For  certain.     Slowly,  word  by  word,  she  reads 

Aloud  that  licensj  —  or  that  warrant,  say. 

*  One  against  two  —  and  two  that  urge  their  odds 

To  uttermost — I  needs  must  try  resource! 

Madam,  I  laid  me  prostrate,  bad^youj^urfl^ 

Body  and  soul:  you  spurned  and  safely  spumed 

So  you  had  spared  me  the  superfluous  taunt 

^^Prostration  means  7io power  to  stand  erect, 

Stand,  trampling  on  who  trampled — prostrate  now  !  " 

So,  with  my  other  fool-foe  ;  I  was  fain 

Let  the  boy  touch  me  with  the  buttoned  foil. 

And  him  the  infection  gains,  he  too  must  needs 

Catch  up  the  butcher's  cleaver.     Be  it  so  ! 

Since  play  turns  earnest,  here's  my  serious  fence. 
He  loves  you;  he  demands  yourjove :  both  know 

V/hat  love  means  in  my  language.     Love  him  then  / 


fjjAA 


658  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

Pursuant  to  a  pact,  love  pays  my  debt : 
Therefore,  deliver  me  from  him,  thereby 
Likewise  delivering  from  me  yourself ! 
For,  hesitate  —  much  more,  refuse  consent — 
I  tell  the  wJjole  truth  to  your  husband.     Flat 
Cards  lie  on  table,  in  our  gamester-phrase  ! 
Coment — you  stopmyjnouth,  the  only  way.'' 

"  I  did  well,  trusting  instinct :  knew  your  hai.d 
Had  never  joined  with  his  in  fellowship 
Over  this  pact  of  infamy.     You  known  — 
As  he  was  known  through  every  ner\'e  of  me. 
Therefore  I  '  stopped  his  mouth  the  only  way  ' 
But  my  way !  none  was  left  for  you,  my  friend  — 
The  loyal  —  near,  the  loved  one  !     No  —  no  —  no ! 
Threaten  ?     Chastise  ?     The  coward  would  but  quail. 
Conquer  who  can  the  cunning  of  the  snake  ! 
Stamp  out  his  slimy  strength  from  tail  to  head, 
And  still  you  leave  vibration  of  the  tongue. 
His  malice  had  redoubled  —  not  on  me 
V\lio,  myself,  choose  my  own  refining  fire  — 


l^IIE  INN  ALBUM.  (^59 

But  on  poor  unsuspicious  innocence  ; 

And,  —  victim,  —  to  turn  executioner 

Also  —  that  feat  effected,  forky  tongue 

Had  done  indeed  its  office  !     Once  snake's  '  mouth  ' 

Thus  '  open  '  —  how  could  mortal  '  stoJ>  it\  ]  " 

"  So ! " 

A  tiger-flash  —  y«l,  spring,  and  scream  :  halloo  ! 
Death's  out  and  on  him,  has  and  holds  him  —  ugh  ! 
But  ne  trucidet  coram  populo 
jtuvenis  senem  !     Right  the  Horatian  rule  ! 

There,  see  how  soon  a  quiet  comes  to  pass ! 


66o  THE  INN  ALBUM. 


VIII. 

The  youth  is  somehow  by  the  lady's  side. 

His  right-hand  grasps  her  right-hand  once  again. 

Both  gaze  on  the  dead  body.     Hers  the  word. 

"  And  that  was  good  but  useless.     Had  I  lived 

The  danger  was  to  dread  ;  but,  dying  now  — 

Himself  would  hardly  become  talkative, 

Since  talk  no  more  means  torture.     Fools  —  what  fooh 

These  wicked  men  are  !     Had  I  borne  four  years. 

Four  years  of  weeks  and  months  and  days  and  nights, 

Inured  me  to  the  consciousness  of  life 

Coiled  round  by  his  life,  with  the  tongue  to  ply,  — 

But  that  I  bore  about  me,  for  prompt  use 

At  urgent  need,  the  thing  that  '  stops  the  mouth  ' 

And  stays  the  venom  ?     Since  such  need  was  now 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  66 1 

Or  never,  —  how  should  use  not  follow  need  ? 
Bear  witness  for  me,  I  withdraw  from  life 
By  virtue  of  the  license  —  warrant^say. 
That  blackens  yet  this  Album  —  white  again, 
Thanks  still  to  my  one  friend  who  tears  the  page  I 
Now,  let  me  write  the  line  of  supplement, 
As  counselled  by  my  foe  there  :  ' each  a  line!* 

And  she  does  falteringly  write  to  end. 

*  /  die  now  through  the  vtllatti  who  lies  dead,  \ 

Righteously  slain.     He  would  have  outraged  me, 

So,  my  defender  slew  him.     God  protect 

The  right  I     Where  wrong  lay,  I  bear  witness  now. 

Let  man  believe  me,  whose  last  breath  is  spent 

In  blessing  my  defender  from  my  soulP 

And  so  ends  the  Inn  Album. 

As  she  dies, 
Begins  outside  a  voice  that  sounds  like  song, 


662  THE  INN  ALBUM. 

And  is  indeed  half  song  though  meant  for  speech 
Muttered  in  time  to  motion  —  stir  of  heart 
That  unsubduably  must  bubble  forth 
To  match  the  fawn-step  as  it  mounts  the  stair. 

"  All's  ended  and  all's  over!     Verdict  found 

^  Not  guilty^ — prisoner  forthwith  set  free, 

Mid  cheers  the  Court  pretends  to  disregard  ! 

Now  Portia,  now  for  Daniel,  late  severe, 

At  last  appeased,  benignant !     '  This  young  matt  — 

Hem  —  has  the  young  man^  s  foibles  but  no  fault. 

He's  virgin  soil —  afrie?id  must  cultivate. 

I  think  no  plaiit  called  '  love  '  grows  wild —  a  friend 

May  introduce,  and  name  the  bloom,  the  fruit  I ' 

Here  somebody  dares  wave  a  handkerchief  — 

She'll  want  to  hide  her  face  with  presently  ! 

Good-by  then  !     '  Cigno  fedel,  cigno  fedel, 

AddioT     Now,  was  ever  such  mistake  — 

Ever  such  foolish  ugly  omen  ?     Pshaw  ! 

Wagner,  beside  !     '  Amo  te  solo,  te 

Solo  amair     That's  worth  fifty  such  ! 


THE  INN  ALBUM.  663 

But,  mum,  the  grave  face  at  the  opened  door  !  " 

And  so  the  good  gay  gal,  with  eyes  and  cheeks  . 

Diamond  and  damask,  —  cheeks  so  white  erewhile  ^^  «*-*-'*'^ 

Because  of  a  vague  fancy,  idle  fear  /- >(tt4 

Chased  on  reflection  !  —  pausing,  taps  discreet ; 

And  then,  to  give  herself  a  countenance, 

Before  she  comes  upon  the  pair  inside, 

Loud  —  the  oft-quoted,  long-laughed-over-line  — 

"  '  Hail,  calm  acclivity,  salubrious  spot ! ' 

Open  the  door  !  "  *• 

No  :  let  the  curtain  fall !         ^jM''^   '' 


U 


'U'VtvW- 


^ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 


Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


JAN    20  1948 


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LD  21-100m-9,'47(A5702sl6)476 


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THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  UBRARY 


